SLTS
type: Concept
in scheme: projects
definition: The measurement of sea level along polar coastlines presents great technical challenges for the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) of the WMO/IOC Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM). The need for measurements in these data sparse regions has been clearly made in the scientific literature. For example, in oceanography, Arctic sea level data presently available suggest a common-mode of variability which provides insights in the quasi-resonant dynamics of the Arctic Ocean. Arctic sea level data are of particular interest within water balance studies concerning the freshening of the Arctic Ocean and its relationship to the Arctic Oscillation. Antarctic sea level changes have also been found to demonstrate considerable coherence related to the Southern Annular Mode and transports in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The need for measurements for climate studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also been clearly made. Monitoring of levels in both high-latitude regions is necessary to understand more completely the spatial pattern of long term sea level change due to ocean warming and ice melt. Climate and sea level changes also affect the stability of ice shelves and fast ice and the glaciers behind them.This project will use existing and new Arctic sea level recorders (there are no sites currently operational in Greenland, for example) and will make enhancements to the existing network of gauges in Antarctica. Past and future tide gauge data sets will be used in combination with satellite altimeter and space gravity data where possible to understand further the regional ocean dynamics and climate change (EoI 580). Differences between Arctic and Antarctic in ocean dynamics and sea level response to climate change are particularly interesting. The new recorders will be high technology devices providing data at high frequency and real time, comprising the core of ongoing polar sea level monitoring networks. …

S - U
type: Concept