Towards comprehensive observing and modeling systems for monitoring and predicting regional to coastal sea level

Rui M. Ponte*, Mark Carson, Mauro Cirano, Catia M. Domingues, Svetlana Jevrejeva, Marta Marcos, Gary Mitchum, R. S.W. van de Wal, Philip L. Woodworth, Michaël Ablain, Fabrice Ardhuin, Valérie Ballu, Mélanie Becker, Jérôme Benveniste, Florence Birol, Elizabeth Bradshaw, Anny Cazenave, P. De Mey-Frémaux, Fabien Durand, Tal EzerLee Lueng Fu, Ichiro Fukumori, Kathy Gordon, Médéric Gravelle, Stephen M. Griffies, Weiqing Han, Angela Hibbert, Chris W. Hughes, Déborah Idier, Villy H. Kourafalou, Christopher M. Little, Andrew Matthews, Angélique Melet, Mark Merrifield, Benoit Meyssignac, Shoshiro Minobe, Thierry Penduff, Nicolas Picot, Christopher Piecuch, Richard D. Ray, Lesley Rickards, Alvaro Santamaría-Gómez, Detlef Stammer, Joanna Staneva, Laurent Testut, Keith Thompson, Philip Thompson, Stefano Vignudelli, Joanne Williams, Simon D. Simon, Guy Wöppelmann, Laure Zanna, Xuebin Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

A major challenge for managing impacts and implementing effective mitigation measures and adaptation strategies for coastal zones affected by future sea level (SL) rise is our limited capacity to predict SL change at the coast on relevant spatial and temporal scales. Predicting coastal SL requires the ability to monitor and simulate a multitude of physical processes affecting SL, from local effects of wind waves and river runoff to remote influences of the large-scale ocean circulation on the coast. Here we assess our current understanding of the causes of coastal SL variability on monthly to multi-decadal timescales, including geodetic, oceanographic and atmospheric aspects of the problem, and review available observing systems informing on coastal SL. We also review the ability of existing models and data assimilation systems to estimate coastal SL variations and of atmosphere-ocean global coupled models and related regional downscaling efforts to project future SL changes. We discuss (1) observational gaps and uncertainties, and priorities for the development of an optimal and integrated coastal SL observing system, (2) strategies for advancing model capabilities in forecasting short-term processes and projecting long-term changes affecting coastal SL, and (3) possible future developments of sea level services enabling better connection of scientists and user communities and facilitating assessment and decision making for adaptation to future coastal SL change.

Original languageEnglish
Article number437
Number of pages25
JournalFrontiers in Marine Science
Volume6
Issue numberJUL
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jul 2019

Funding

The contents of this manuscript are partly based on the results from: the workshop on "Understanding the relationship between coastal sea level and large-scale ocean circulation," held at and generously supported by the International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland; the Sea Level Futures Conference, hosted by the National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool, United Kingdom; the project "Advanced Earth System Modelling Capacity," and the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service through the WaveFlow Service Evolution project. RP was funded by NASA grant NNH16CT00C. CD was supported by the Australian Research Council (FT130101532 and DP 160103130), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 148, funded by national SCOR committees and a grant to SCOR from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1546580), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO/International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IOC/IODE) IQuOD Steering Group. SJ was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council under Grant Agreement No. NE/P01517/1 and by the EPSRC NEWTON Fund Sustainable Deltas Programme, Grant Number EP/R024537/1. RvdW received funding from NWO, Grant 866.13.001. WH was supported by NASA (NNX17AI63G and NNX17AH25G). CL was supported by NASA Grant NNH16CT01C. This work is a contribution to the PIRATE project funded by CNES (to TP). PT was supported by the NOAA Research Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program through its sponsorship of UHSLC (NA16NMF4320058). JS was supported by EU contract 730030 (call H2020-EO-2016, "CEASELESS"). JW was supported by EU Horizon 2020 Grant 633211, Atlantos.

Keywords

  • Coastal adaptation
  • Coastal impacts
  • Coastal ocean modeling
  • Coastal sea level
  • Integrated observing system
  • Observational gaps
  • Sea-level trends

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