Ocean and Polar Research

Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (한국해양과학기술원)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Pacific Sea Level Variability associated with Climate Variability from Altimetry and Sea Level Reconstruction Data

위성 고도계와 해수면 재구성 자료를 이용한 기후변동성에 따른 태평양 해수면 변화

  • Cha, Sang-Chul (Department of Earth, Marine Science, Jeju National University) ;
  • Moon, Jae-Hong (Department of Earth, Marine Science, Jeju National University)
  • 차상철 (제주대학교 해양과학대학 지구해양과학과) ;
  • 문재홍 (제주대학교 해양과학대학 지구해양과학과)
  • Received : 2017.08.16
  • Accepted : 2018.02.05
  • Published : 2018.03.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated a great regional difference in Sea Level Rise (SLR) in the Pacific and it has been suggested that this is linked to climate variability over the past two decades. In this study, we seek to identify the possible linkage between regional sea level and Pacific climate variability from altimetry-based sea level data (1993-2012) and further investigate how the Pacific sea level has changed spatially and temporally over the past 60 years from long-term sea level reconstruction data (1953-2008). Based on the same method as Zhang and Church (2012), the Inter-annual Climate Index (ICI) associated with the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o-Southern$ Oscillation (ENSO) and the Decadal Climate Index (DCI) associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are defined and then the multiple variable linear regression is used to analyze quantitatively the impact of inter-annual and decadal climate variability on the regional sea levels in the Pacific. During the altimeter period, the ICI that represents ENSO influence on inter-annual time scales strongly impacts in a striking east-west "see-saw mode" on sea levels across the tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the decadal sea level pattern that is linked to the DCI has a broad meridional structure that is roughly symmetric in the equator with its North Pacific expression being similar to the PDO, which largely contributes to a positive SLR trend in the western Pacific and a negative trend in the eastern Pacific over the two most recent decades. Using long-term sea level reconstruction data, we found that the Pacific sea levels have fluctuated in the past over inter-annual and decadal time scales and that strong regional differences are presented. Of particular interest is that the SLR reveals a decadal shift and presents an opposite trend before and after the mid-1980s; i.e., a declining (rising) trend in the western (eastern) Pacific before the mid-1980s, followed by a rising (declining) trend from the mid-1980s onward in the western (eastern) Pacific. This result indicates that the recent SLR patterns revealed from the altimeters have been persistent at least since the mid-1980s.

Keywords

References

  1. Bromirski PD, Miller AJ, Flick RE, Auad G (2011) Dynamical suppression of sea level rise along the Pacific coast of North America: indications for imminent acceleration. J Geophys Res 116:C07005
  2. Cazenave A, Llovel W (2010) Contemporary sea level rise. Annu Rev Mar Sci 2:145-173 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120308-081105
  3. Chambers DP, Mehlhaff CA, Urban TJ, Fujii D, Nerem RS (2002) Low-frequency variations in global mean sea level: 1950-2000. J Geophys Res 107(C4):1-1-1-10. doi:10.1029/2001JC001089
  4. Church, JA, White NJ, Coleman R, Lambeck K, Mitrovica JX (2004) Estimates of the regional distribution of sea level rise over the 1950-2000 period. J Climate 17(13): 2609-2625 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<2609:EOTRDO>2.0.CO;2
  5. Church JA, Aarup T, Woodworth PL, Wilson WS (2010) Synthesis and outlook for the future. In: Church JA, Aarup T, Woodworth PL, Wilson WS, Nicholls RJ, Rayner R, Blewitt G (eds) Understanding sea-level rise and variability. Blackwell, Lodon, pp 402-419
  6. Church JA, White NJ (2011) Sea-level rise from the late 19th to the early 21st century. Surv Geophys 32(4-5): 585-602 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9119-1
  7. IPCC (2013) Climate change 2013. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. http://www.climatechange2013.org/report/full-report/ Accessed 5 May 2017
  8. Deser C, Alexander MA, Xie SP, Phillips AS (2010) Sea surface temperature variability: patterns and mechanisms. Annu Rev of Marine Sci 2:115-143 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120408-151453
  9. Di Lorenzo E, Liguori G, Schneider N, Furtado JC, Anderson BT, Alexander MA (2015) ENSO and meridional modes: a null hypothesis for Pacific climate variability. Geophys Res Lett 42(21):9440-9448 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066281
  10. Gershunov A, Barnett TP (1998) Interdecadal modulation of ENSO teleconnections. B Am Meteorol Soc 79(12):2715-2725 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<2715:IMOET>2.0.CO;2
  11. Hamlington BD, Leben RR, Nerem RS, Han W, Kim KY (2011) Reconstructing sea level using cyclostationary empirical orthogonal functions. J Geophys Res 116: C12015 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007529
  12. Hamlington BD, Strassburg MW, Leben RR, Han W, Nerem RS, Kim KY (2014) Uncovering an anthropogenic sealevel rise signal in the Pacific Ocean. Nat Clim Change 4(9):782 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2307
  13. Hay CC, Morrow E, Kopp RE, Mitrovica JX (2015) Probabilistic reanalysis of twentieth-century sea-level rise. Nature 517(7535):481-484 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14093
  14. Kao HY, Yu JY (2009) Contrasting eastern-Pacific and central-Pacific types of ENSO. J Climate 22(3):615-632 https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2309.1
  15. Landerer FW, Jungclaus JH, Marotzke J (2008) El Nino-Southern Oscillation signals in sea level, surface mass redistribution, and degree-two geoid coefficients. J Geophys Res 113:C08014. doi:10.1029/2008JC004767
  16. Lee T, McPhaden MJ (2008) Decadal phase change in largescale sea level and winds in the Indo-Pacific region at the end of the 20th century. Geophy Res Lett 35:L01605
  17. Llovel W, Cazenave A, Rogel P, Lombard A, Nguyen MB (2009) Two-dimensional reconstruction of past sea level (1950-2003) from tide gauge data and an ocean general circulation model. Clim Past 5(2):217-227 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-5-217-2009
  18. Mantua NJ, Hare SR, Zhang Y, Wallace JM, Francis RC (1997) A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. B Am Meteorol Soc 78(6):1069-1079 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1997)078<1069:APICOW>2.0.CO;2
  19. Masters D, Nerem RS, Choe C, Leuliette E, Beckley B, White N, Ablain M (2012) Comparison of global mean sea level time series from TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, and Jason-2. Mar Geod 35(sup1):20-41 https://doi.org/10.1080/01490419.2012.717862
  20. Merrifield MA (2011) A shift in western tropical Pacific sea level trends during the 1990s. J Climate 24(15):4126-4138 https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JCLI3932.1
  21. Merrifield MA, Thompson PR, Lander M (2012) Multidecadal sea level anomalies and trends in the western tropical Pacific. Geophys Res Lett 39:L13602. doi:10.1029/2012GL052032
  22. Meyssignac B, Becker M, Llovel W, Cazenave A (2012) An assessment of two-dimensional past sea level reconstructions over 1950-2009 based on tide-gauge data and different input sea level grids. Surv Geophys 33(5):945-972 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9171-x
  23. Moon JH, Song YT, Bromirski PD, Miller AJ (2013) Multidecadal regional sea level shifts in the Pacific over 1958-2008. J Geophys Res 118(12):7024-7035 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009297
  24. Moon JH, Song YT, Lee H (2015) PDO and ENSO modulations intensified decadal sea level variability in the tropical Pacific. J Geophys Res 120(12):8229-8237
  25. Nerem RS, Chambers DP, Leuliette EW, Mitchum GT, Giese BS (1999) Variations in global mean sea level associated with the 1997-1998 ENSO event: implications for measuring long term sea level change. Geophys Res Lett 26(19):3005-3008 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL002311
  26. Newman M, Compo GP, Alexander MA (2003) ENSOforced variability of the Pacific decadal oscillation. J Climate 16(23):3853-3857 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<3853:EVOTPD>2.0.CO;2
  27. Newman M, Alexander MA, Ault TR, Cobb KM, Deser C, Di Lorenzo E, Schneider N (2016) The Pacific decadal oscillation, revisited. J Climate 29(12):4399-4427 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0508.1
  28. Schneider N, Cornuelle BD (2005) The forcing of the Pacific decadal oscillation. J Climate 18(21):4355-4373 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3527.1
  29. Yeo SR, Kim KY (2014) Global warming, low-frequency variability, and biennial oscillation: an attempt to understand the physical mechanisms driving major ENSO events. Clim Dynam 43(3-4):771-786 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-013-1862-1
  30. Zhang X, Church JA (2012) Sea level trends, interannual and decadal variability in the Pacific Ocean. Geophys Res Lett 39:L21701. doi:10.1029/2012GL053240