Decadal sea level trends in the Bay of Biscay from tide gauges, GPS and TOPEX

• Published in: Journal of Marine Systems
• Main Authors: Marcos, Marta, Woppelmann, Guy
• Other Authors: Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avancats (IMEDEA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC)-Universitat de les Illes Balears = Universidad de las Islas Baleares = University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Service d'observation SONEL (www.sonel.org)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: Sea level; Tide gauge; Altimetry; TOPEX; GPS; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01248244; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.02.006

International audience Sea level time series derived from TOPEX altimeter and from tide gauge measurements in the Bay of Biscay (Eastern North Atlantic Ocean) are used to investigate the regional sea level rise. Altimetry sea level anomalies are computed from TOPEX measurements and resampled into fixed along track bins in order to obtain consistent records and to approach as close as possible to the coast. Tidal corrections are critical in the estimation of sea level trends; therefore an additional analysis has been carried out in order to identify and correct for residual tidal signals. The obtained mean sea level rise in the region is + 3.09 ± 0.21 mm/year over the period 1993–2002. Tide gauges have been corrected for vertical land motions by means of collocated GPS measurements. GPS-corrected tide gauges and nearby altimetry trends are found to be statistically consistent. The relationship with the atmospheric forcing is also investigated revealing that 15% of this sea level rise is attributed to the atmospheric pressure effects.