Abstract's details
How reliable are regional sea level trends ?
Event: 2017 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: Quantifying Errors and Uncertainties in Altimetry data
Presentation type: Oral
In this study we try to quantify realistic uncertainties on regional sea level trends derived from 20+ years of satellite altimetry data.
Different error sources affecting altimeter measurements are modeled to construct a complete error covariance matrix, which is then used as the input of an inverse method for local trend estimation. This results as a map of systematic uncertainties.
We also investigate our ability to detect climate change signals in regional sea level records from satellite altimetry. Outputs of climate models are used to provide a description of natural sea level variability, which is added to the system error covariance matrix. Results show that in the majority of the oceanic domain, observed sea level trends are related to climate change.
Back to the list of abstractDifferent error sources affecting altimeter measurements are modeled to construct a complete error covariance matrix, which is then used as the input of an inverse method for local trend estimation. This results as a map of systematic uncertainties.
We also investigate our ability to detect climate change signals in regional sea level records from satellite altimetry. Outputs of climate models are used to provide a description of natural sea level variability, which is added to the system error covariance matrix. Results show that in the majority of the oceanic domain, observed sea level trends are related to climate change.