Abstract
This study provides additional information about the impact of atmospheric pressure on sea level variations. The observed regularity in sea level atmospheric pressure depends mainly on the latitude and verified to be dominantly random closer to the equator. It was demonstrated that almost all the annual and semiannual sea level variations at 27 globally distributed tide gauge stations can be attributed to the regional/local atmospheric forcing as an inverted barometric effect. Statistically significant non-linearities were detected in the regional atmospheric pressure series, which in turn impacted other sea level variations as compounders in tandem with the lunar nodal forcing, generating lunar sub-harmonics with multidecadal periods. It was shown that random component of regional atmospheric pressure tends to cluster at monthly intervals. The clusters are likely to be caused by the intraannual seasonal atmospheric temperature changes,which may also act as random beats in generating sub-harmonics observed in sea level changes as another mechanism. This study also affirmed that there are no statistically significant secular trends in the progression of regional atmospheric pressures, hence there was no contribution to the sea level trends during the 20th century by the atmospheric pressure.Meanwhile, the estimated nonuniform scale factors of the inverted barometer effects suggest that the sea level atmospheric pressure will bias the sea level trends inferred from satellite altimetry measurements if their impact is accounted for as corrections without proper scaling.
References
Allan, R. J., and T. J. Ansell, 2006, A new globally-complete monthly historical gridded mean sea level pressure data set (HadSLP2): 1850-2004. J. Clim., 19, 5816-5842.10.1175/JCLI3937.1Search in Google Scholar
Bindoff, N.L., J. Willebrand, V. Artale, A, Cazenave, J. Gregory, S.Search in Google Scholar
Gulev, K. Hanawa, C. Le Quéré, S. Levitus, Y. Nojiri, C.K. Shum, L.D. Talley and A. Unnikrishnan, 2007, Observations: Oceanic Climate Change and Sea Level. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.Search in Google Scholar
Chelton, D. B., and R. E. Davis, 1982, Monthly mean sea-level variability along the west coast of North America. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 12, 757-784.10.1175/1520-0485(1982)012<0757:MMSLVA>2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar
Douglas, B. C., 2008, Concerning evidence for fingerprints of glacial melting. Journal of Coastal Research, 24(2B), 218-227.10.2112/06-0748.1Search in Google Scholar
Gaspar, P., and R.M. Ponte, 1997, Relation between sea level and barometric pressure determined from altimeter data and model simulations. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 961- 971.10.1029/96JC02920Search in Google Scholar
Gillett, N. P., F.W. Zwiers, A. J. Weaver, and P. A. Stott, 2003, Detection of human influence on sea-level pressure. Nature, 422, 292-294.10.1038/nature01487Search in Google Scholar
Keeling, C. D., and Whorf T. P., 1997, Possible forcing of global temperature by oceanic tides. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 94, 8321-8328.10.1073/pnas.94.16.8321Search in Google Scholar
Hamon, B. V., 1962, The spectrum of mean sea level at Sydney, Coff’s Harbor, and Lord Howe Island. J. Geophys. Res., 67, 5147-5155.10.1029/JZ067i013p05147Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., 2016a, Thermosteric contribution of warming oceans to the global sea level variations, J. Geod. Sci., Vol. 6, pp. 130-138.10.1515/jogs-2016-0011Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., 2016b, The effect of warming oceans at a tide gauge station, J. of Geod. Sci., Vol. 6, pp. 69-79.10.1515/jogs-2016-0005Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., 2015, More confounders at global and decadal scales in detecting recent sea level accelerations, J. of Geod. Sci, 5, 192-198.10.1515/jogs-2015-0020Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., 2014, Sub and super harmonics of the lunar nodal tides and the solar radiative forcing in global sea level changes, J. of Geod. Sci., 4, 150-165.Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., L. Berry, and M. Koch, 2012, Modeling regional sea level rise using local tide gauge data, J. of Geod. Sci., Vol. 2, Issue 3, pp. 188-1999.10.2478/v10156-011-0039-2Search in Google Scholar
İz H.B., 2006, How do unmodeled systematic MSL variations affect long term sea level trend estimates from tide gauge data? J. of Geodesy, Vol. 80, No .1, pp. 40-46.10.1007/s00190-006-0028-xSearch in Google Scholar
Kuo, 2017, Private communication.Search in Google Scholar
Lisitzin, E., 1974, Sea-level changes, Elsevier Oceanography Series, 8. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 286 pp.Search in Google Scholar
Munk,W., Dzieciuch M., Jayne S., 2002, Millennial Climate Variability: Is There a Tidal Connection? J. Climate, 15, 370-385.10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<0370:MCVITA>2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar
Piecuch, C. G., P. R. Thompson, and K. A. Donohue (2016), Air pressure effects on sea level changes during the twentieth century, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 121, 7917-7930.Search in Google Scholar
Ponte, R. M., D. A. Salstein, and R. D. Rosen, (1991), Sea level response to pressure forcing in a barotropic numerical model. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 21, 1043-1957.Search in Google Scholar
Ponte, R. M., and P. Gaspar, 1999, Regional analysis of the inverted barometer effect over the global ocean using TOPEX/POSEIDON data and model results, J. Geophys. Res., 104(C7), 15,587-15,601.10.1029/1999JC900113Search in Google Scholar
Ponte R. M., 2006, Low-Frequency Sea Level Variability and the Inverted Barometer Effect, J. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Tech., 23, 619-629.10.1175/JTECH1864.1Search in Google Scholar
Robinson, A. R., 1964, Continental shelf waves and the response of sea level to weather systems. J. Geophys. Res., 69, 367-368.10.1029/JZ069i002p00367Search in Google Scholar
Roden G. I., 1966, Low frequency sea level oscillations along the Pacific coast of North America. J. Geophys. Res., 71, 4755-4775.10.1029/JZ071i020p04755Search in Google Scholar
Roden, G. I., (1960), On the nonseasonal variations in sea level along the west coast of North America. J. Geophys. Res., 65, 2809-2826.Search in Google Scholar
Stammer, D., S., Hüttemann, (2008), Response of Regional Sea Level to Atmospheric Pressure Loading in a Climate Change Scenario, Journal of Climate, vol. 21, issue 10, p. 2093.Search in Google Scholar
Tai, C.-K., 1993, On the quasigeostrophic oceanic response to atmospheric pressure forcing: The inverted barometer pumping, NOAA Tech. Memo. NOS OES 005, 19 pp., Nat. Oceanic and Atmos. Admin. Nat. Ocean Serv., Rockville, MD.Search in Google Scholar
Treloar, N. C., 2002, Luni-Solar Tidal Influences on Climate Variability, Int. J. Climatol. 22: 1527-1542.10.1002/joc.783Search in Google Scholar
Trupin, A., and J. Wahr, (1990), Spectroscopic analysis of global tide gauge sea level data. Geophys. JInt., 100, 441-453.Search in Google Scholar
Wunsch, C., 1972, Bermuda sea level in relation to tides, weather, and baroclinic fluctuations. Rev. Geophys., 10, 1-49., 1991: Large-scale response of the ocean to atmospheric forcing at low frequencies. J. Geophys. Res., 96, 15083-15092.10.1029/RG010i001p00001Search in Google Scholar
© 2018 H. Bâki Iz, published by De Gruyter Open
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.
