'''DEFINITION'''

The sea level ocean monitoring indicator is derived from the DUACS delayed-time (DT-2021 version) altimeter gridded maps of sea level anomalies based on a stable number of altimeters (two) in the satellite constellation. These products are distributed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and are also available in the CMEMS catalogue (SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_CLIMATE_L4_MY_008_057).

The mean sea level evolution estimated in the North-West Shelf region is derived from the average of the gridded sea level maps weighted by the cosine of the latitude. The annual and semi-annual periodic signals are adjusted and the time series is low-pass filtered. The curve is corrected for the effect of the Glacial Isostatic Adjustment using the ICE5G-VM2 GIA model (Peltier, 2004).

'''CONTEXT'''

Mean sea level evolution has a direct impact on coastal areas and is a crucial index of climate change since it reflects both the amount of heat added in the ocean and the mass loss due to land ice melt (e.g. IPCC, 2013; Dieng et al., 2017). Long-term and inter-annual variations of the sea level are observed at global and regional scales. They are strongly related to the internal variability observed at basin scale and these variations can strongly affect population living in coastal areas.

'''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS'''

Using the latest reprocessed altimeter sea level products, it is possible to estimate the sea level rise in the North-West Shelf region since 01/1993 (see the proposed figure of the indicator for the updated trend value). The associated uncertainty is provided in a 90% confidence interval and only errors related to the altimeter observation system have been considered in the sea level trend uncertainty (Prandi et al., 2021). The uncertainty due to the sea level internal variability of the observed ocean is not included and should be considered additionally. The North-West Shelf region is a large, deep and open ocean area, which explains the relatively reduced inter annual variability observed in the sea level record compared to semi-enclosed basin with shallow bathymetry (Baltic and Black seas).

'''DOI (product):'''

https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00271