Coastal Sea Level and Related Fields from Existing Observing Systems

Type Article
Date 2019-11
Language English
Author(s) Marcos Marta1, 2, Wöppelmann Guy3, Matthews Andrew4, Ponte Rui M.5, Birol Florence6, Ardhuin FabriceORCID7, Coco Giovanni8, Santamaría-Gómez Alvaro9, Ballu Valerie3, Testut Laurent3, Chambers Don10, Stopa Justin11
Affiliation(s) 1 : IMEDEA(UIB-CSIC), Miquel Marquès, 21, 07190 Esporles, Spain
2 : Department of Physics, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. Valldemossa, km 7.5, 07122 Palma, Spain
3 : LIENSs, Université de La Rochelle, 2 Rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France
4 : National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK
5 : Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., 131 Hartwell Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
6 : LEGOS, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNES, CNRS, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
7 : CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, Laboratoire dfOceanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM, Univ. Brest, 1625 Route de Sainte.Anne, 29280 Plouzane, France
8 : Faculty of Science, School of Environment, University of Auckland, Building 302, 23 Symonds Street, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
9 : GET, Observatoire Midi–Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, Université de Toulouse, 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
10 : College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, 140 7th Ave S, MSL119, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.5016, USA
11 : University of Hawaii, 2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 405, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Source Surveys In Geophysics (0169-3298) (Springer Nature), 2019-11 , Vol. 40 , N. 6 , P. 1293-1317
DOI 10.1007/s10712-019-09513-3
WOS© Times Cited 28
Keyword(s) Sea-level observations, Tide gauges, Coastal altimetry, GNSS, Wind waves, Ocean bottom pressure, Hydrography
Abstract

We review the status of current sea-level observing systems with a focus on the coastal zone. Tide gauges are the major source of coastal sea-level observations monitoring most of the world coastlines, although with limited extent in Africa and part of South America. The longest tide gauge records, however, are unevenly distributed and mostly concentrated along the European and North American coasts. Tide gauges measure relative sea level but the monitoring of vertical land motion through high-precision GNSS, despite being essential to disentangle land and ocean contributions in tide gauge records, is only available in a limited number of stations. (25% of tide gauges have a GNSS station at less than 10 km.) Other data sources are new in situ observing systems fostered by recent progress in GNSS data processing (e.g., GPS reflectometry, GNSS-towed platforms) and coastal altimetry currently measuring sea level as close as 5 km from the coastline. Understanding observed coastal sea level also requires information on various contributing processes, and we provide an overview of some other relevant observing systems, including those on (offshore and coastal) wind waves and water density and mass changes.

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Marcos Marta, Wöppelmann Guy, Matthews Andrew, Ponte Rui M., Birol Florence, Ardhuin Fabrice, Coco Giovanni, Santamaría-Gómez Alvaro, Ballu Valerie, Testut Laurent, Chambers Don, Stopa Justin (2019). Coastal Sea Level and Related Fields from Existing Observing Systems. Surveys In Geophysics, 40(6), 1293-1317. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-019-09513-3 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00480/59208/