Sea level data archaeology and the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)

Bradshaw, Elizabeth; Rickards, Lesley; Aarup, Thorkild

doi:10.1016/j.grj.2015.02.005

Cited by 38 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…See also discussion of this topic in Marcos et al (2019) and Ponte et al (2019). • It is important also to extend the historical coastal sea level data set via a programme in 'data archaeology' (Bradshaw et al 2015) and the use of 'proxy' (geological) data sets (e.g., Barlow et al 2014). • High-frequency (timescales ~ 1 h or less) sea level variability due to seiches, meteotsunamis and other high-frequency processes are frequently under-represented in sea level studies (Vilibić and Šepić 2017), and yet contribute to the extreme sea levels which are of great research interest and importance to coastal dwellers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forcing Factors Affecting Sea Level Changes at the Coast

et al. 2019

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We review the characteristics of sea level variability at the coast focussing on how it differs from the variability in the nearby deep ocean. Sea level variability occurs on all timescales, with processes at higher frequencies tending to have a larger magnitude at the coast due to resonance and other dynamics. In the case of some processes, such as the tides, the presence of the coast and the shallow waters of the shelves results in the processes being considerably more complex than offshore. However, 'coastal variability' should not always be considered as 'short spatial scale variability' but can be the result of signals transmitted along the coast from 1000s km away. Fortunately, thanks to tide gauges being necessarily located at the coast, many aspects of coastal sea level variability can be claimed to be better understood than those in the deep ocean. Nevertheless, certain aspects of coastal variability remain under-researched, including how changes in some processes (e.g., wave setup, river runoff) may have contributed to the historical mean sea level records obtained from tide gauges which are now used routinely in large-scale climate research.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forcing Factors Affecting Sea Level Changes at the Coast

et al. 2019

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“…Many of the data collected before the advent and adoption of digital recorders in the 1970s to 1990s remain in analog format (see, e.g., Talke & Jay, , ), and, as a consequence, one is often constrained to using information from approximately the last half‐century to assess and interpret global trends (e.g., Mawdsley et al, ; Woodworth, ). Multiple projects are in progress to improve the historical data set (known as “data archaeology,” see, e.g., Bradshaw et al, ; Haigh et al, ; Talke & Jay, ).…”

Section: Past Changes In Tidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tides They Are A‐Changin': A Comprehensive Review of Past and Future Nonastronomical Changes in Tides, Their Driving Mechanisms, and Future Implications

Haigh

Pickering

Green

et al. 2020

Reviews of Geophysics

184

173

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Scientists and engineers have observed for some time that tidal amplitudes at many locations are shifting considerably due to nonastronomical factors. Here we review comprehensively these important changes in tidal properties, many of which remain poorly understood. Over long geological time scales, tectonic processes drive variations in basin size, depth, and shape and hence the resonant properties of ocean basins. On shorter geological time scales, changes in oceanic tidal properties are dominated by variations in water depth. A growing number of studies have identified widespread, sometimes regionally coherent, positive, and negative trends in tidal constituents and levels during the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. Determining the causes is challenging because a tide measured at a coastal gauge integrates the effects of local, regional, and oceanic changes. Here, we highlight six main factors that can cause changes in measured tidal statistics on local scales and a further eight possible regional/global driving mechanisms. Since only a few studies have combined observations and models, or modeled at a temporal/spatial resolution capable of resolving both ultralocal and large‐scale global changes, the individual contributions from local and regional mechanisms remain uncertain. Nonetheless, modeling studies project that sea level rise and climate change will continue to alter tides over the next several centuries, with regionally coherent modes of change caused by alterations to coastal morphology and ice sheet extent. Hence, a better understanding of the causes and consequences of tidal variations is needed to help assess the implications for coastal defense, risk assessment, and ecological change.

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“…For reconstructions, the spatial patterns of sea level are either fixed to those of the satellite era [89] or assumed to be cyclostationary [82], and their temporal variability is constrained by tide gauge observations before the satellite era [60,82,89]. There are, however, only a dozen tide gauge stations with record lengths greater than 50 year around the IO rim [90] and no data are available in the ocean interior. Since our research focus is to understand the regional patterns of sea-level variations, we use reanalysis products because they assimilated available observations throughout the basin.…”

Section: Multi-decadal Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Decadal Trend and Decadal Variability of the Regional Sea Level over the Indian Ocean since the 1960s: Roles of Climate Modes and External Forcing

Han

Stammer

Meehl

et al. 2018

Climate

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Previous studies suggest that anthropogenic warming has affected the multi-decadal trend patterns of sea level over the Indian Ocean (IO). This effect, however, has not been quantified. Using observational datasets combined with large ensemble experiments from two climate models, this paper assesses the effects of natural internal variability versus external forcing on the observed, multi-decadal trend pattern and the decadal sea level anomaly (SLA) of the IO since the 1960s. Because the global mean sea level rise (SLR), which results largely from external forcing, has been removed before the examination, the paper focuses on the regionally uneven distribution of trend and SLA. The impacts of climate modes are quantified using a Bayesian Dynamic Linear Model. For the regional trend pattern of 1958-2005, the effects of internal variability dominate external forcing. Over the Seychelles area where sea-level variations obtain the maximum, internal variability (external forcing) contributes 81% (19 ± 2.4%) of the observed trend. For decadal SLA, internal variability is the predominant cause, with a standard deviation (STD) ratio of externally forced/observed SLA being 18 ± 17% over Seychelles and 17 ± 11% near the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) area. Climate modes account for most observed SLA during boreal winter, with the total effects of decadal ENSO, Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and monsoon accounting for 78-86% of the observed STD near the Seychelles region, ITF area, and coasts of Sumatra and the Bay of Bengal. During summer, climate modes explain 95% of observed STD near the ITF but only 58-67% in other regions. Decadal ENSO dominates the SLA in the south tropical IO for both seasons and near the coasts of Sumatra and the Bay during winter. Decadal IOD and monsoon, however, control the coastal SLA during summer. Remote and local winds over the IO are the main drivers for decadal SLA, while the Pacific influence via the ITF is strong mainly in the southeast basin.

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Sea level data archaeology and the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)

Cited by 38 publications

References 15 publications

Forcing Factors Affecting Sea Level Changes at the Coast

Forcing Factors Affecting Sea Level Changes at the Coast

The Tides They Are A‐Changin': A Comprehensive Review of Past and Future Nonastronomical Changes in Tides, Their Driving Mechanisms, and Future Implications

Multi-Decadal Trend and Decadal Variability of the Regional Sea Level over the Indian Ocean since the 1960s: Roles of Climate Modes and External Forcing

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