Spatial analysis of the arctic sea level budget
Abstract
Sea level variations have since 1991-92 been observed by sea level altimetry, providing a consistent 25 year record. Additionally have the GRACE twin satellites since there launch in 2002 obtained Ocean Bottom Pressure (OBP) records, that shows how ocean mass is changing. The difference between the sea level height anomaly observed by satellite altimetry and OBP are the steric density changes of the ocean caused by temperature and salinity anomalies. This sea level budget adds up in the most regions of the world, due to temporal and spatially regular datasets. In the Arctic Ocean however are all 3 components challenging. Altimetry due to drifting sea ice, OBP is heavily effected by gravitational leakage from land ice mass change and the steric component is difficult due to the lack of consistent temperature/salinity profiles. Furthermore is there a large GIA-component in the Arctic, which affects sea level altimetry primarily in shallow water and coastal regions. By tailoring each component contributing to sea level change for Arctic conditions is it possible to close the sea level budget and hence be able to verify how the different physical changes in the Arctic is contributing to the observable sea level change.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.C13B1152L
- Keywords:
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- 0726 Ice sheets;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0728 Ice shelves;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0750 Sea ice;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHERE