Climate Observation Division5th Annual System ReviewSilver Spring, MD June 5-7, 2007

United States National Sea Level Activities

Update

Workshop, Paris June 6-

9, 2006The U.S. played a key role in the success of the international Workshop on Understanding Sea-

Level Rise and Variability hosted by the International Oceanographic Commission of United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

The Steering Committee Co-chairs included:

Stan Wilson NOAA

U.S. membership of the Steering Committee included:

Robert Thomas- NASA, Mark Merrifield-UHSLC

Chair GLOSS Group of Experts included:

Gary Mitchum, University of South Florida, Ruth E. Neilan-Director, IGS Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Konrad

Steffen, University of Colorado.

In addition, thirty-three other U.S. scientists from various academic institutions and government agencies participated in the conference of 163

scientists from 29 countries.

http://wcrp.wmo.int http://wcrp.ipsl.jussieu.fr/Workshops/SeaLevel/index.html

CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products

SAP 4.1 Coastal Elevations and Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise

Product is focused on a contiguous portion of the U.S. coastal zone (New York to North Carolina)

Deliverables are high resolution elevation and planning maps

Final Delivery Fall 2007

www.climatescience.gov/library/sap/sap4-1/default.php

National Assessment of Coastal Vulnerability to Sea-Level Rise: U.S. Atlantic Coast

Sea Level Rise Impact Studies

Integrated Ocean Observing

SystemNOAA established an IOOS Program Office in 2007. An initial goal by 2008 is to integrate five core IOOS variables from multiple NOAA observing sources

Sea Level, Temperature, Salinity,

Surface Currents, Ocean Color

http://www.ocean.us http://opendap.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov

NOAA established an IOOS oriented web portal in May 2006 for observational water level, meteorological and ancillary data, as well as the model data through OPeNDAP Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) data servers.

Integrated Climate Information Products

The Pacific Region Integrated Climatology Information Products (PRICIP) project will improve the understanding of patterns and trends of storm frequency and intensity - “storminess”- within the Pacific region and develop a suite of integrated information products This effort is a regional path finding activity towards the development of a U.S. comprehensive coastal climatology program.

Strong Winds

Heavy Rains

High Seas

PRICIP includes representatives from NOAA, as well as the University of Hawaii, University of Alaska, University of Guam, Oregon State University, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 

www.pricip.org

Tsunami Warning Program

http://www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tsunami http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart/dart.html

Upgrading sea level station networks for near-shore monitoring

Currently 101 tsunami ready NOAA stations There will be 140 tsunami ready NOAA stations

by end of FY2007

Expanding DART stations to 39 by March 2008 as part of the GEOSS

Derive tidal constituents for NGDC and PMEL in order to detide pressure records for detection of tsunami signal

NOAA National Ocean Service National Water Level Program

Satellite Altimeter Mission Support

NOAA has operated a tide station in cooperation with JPL/NASA on Platform Harvest since 1992 in support of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 providing data for altimeter evaluation and closure analyses.

Redundant pressure gauge systems provide independent sea level estimates at the time of every 10-day overpass.

33  

34 

35 

36 

221 (Asc)

43 (Asc)

119 (Asc)130 (Des)

206 (Des)

HarvestLos Angeles

Global sea level change from TOPEX and Jason

Satellite altimetry

measurement of

global sea level

Figure 5. Time series of TOPEX and Jason differences relative to the global tide gauge network. Note that difference in the values on the vertical axes. The Jason mean is 121 mm relative to TOPEX. The cause of this bias is presently unknown. The TOPEX scatter is 5.3 mm; the Jason scatter is 9.3 mm.

http://sealevel.colorado.edu

TOPEX/Jason Regional Sea Level Trends

Satellite

altimetry

measurement

of regional sea

level trends

1993-2006

http://sealevel.colorado.edu

Deviation from 20th Century Sea Level

TrendsMidway Island 28°N

Wake Island 19°N

Kwajalein 9°N

Pago Pago 14°S

1993

Sea Level Variations, 2006 Annual Assessment

M. A. Merrifield, S. Gill, G. T. Mitchum, and P. L. Woodworth

Bulletin of the

American Meteorology

Society (in press)

Annual Average Sea

Level Anomaly for

Oct 2005-Sept 2006

relative to 1993-1999 mean

Sea Level Variations, 2006 Annual Assessment

M. A. Merrifield, S. Gill, G. T. Mitchum,

and P. L. Woodworth, Bulletin of the

American Meteorology Society

(in press)

Annual mean sea level anomaly

averaged over latitude and longitude

200 NWLON stations fully operational with long-term sustainedoperation, documented calibration and vertical control, androutine data quality control and product delivery.

29 NWLON stations on official GLOSS (Global Sea Level Observing System) list.

54 NWLON stations contribute to JASL (Joint Archive for Sea Level) maintained by the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center (UHSLC)

NWLON meets or exceeds GLOSS operating requirements.

Operational Status of NOAA National Water Level Observation Network

(NWLON) Stations

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/

Applications are made possible by maintaining operating

standardsStation Operation

- sustained long-term O&M

- continuous data

- documented vertical stability

Vertical Datum Reference- up-to-date references to latest tide (and water level) and geodetic

datums

- water levels are known relative to the land and local bench marks

- precise connection to geodetic datums

Data Collection, Processing and Data Delivery- data and system quality control on 24x7 basis

- real-time data and near-real time data are available with QC flags

- monthly and yearly data products are routinely derived and applied

- web-based delivery of all data and products

- data archival system

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/

NWLON Stations over 100 years old

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

1-50 1-60 1-70 1-80 1-90 1-00 1-10 1-20 1-30 1-40 1-50 1-60 1-70 1-80 1-90 1-00

Me

ters

New York 1856

Philadelphia 1900

Baltimore 1902

Fernandina Beach 1897

San Diego 1906

San Francisco 1854

Seattle 1898

Honolulu 1905

1850 2007

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/

Expanded from 175 to 200 NOAA Stations across the Nation

http://www.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/press/nwlon200.shtml

NOAA installed the 200th water level station on Pier A at the Port of Alabama State Docks in April 2007.

New Hardened Stations

For high storm risk Gulf of Mexico stations

Dauphin Island, AL Tide StationAfter Hurricane Katrina

Microwave Water Level Sensor Development

MIROS SM094 – (Used for NOAA Air Gap) http://www.miros.no/range_finder_altimeter.php Design Analysis – http://waterlog.com/products/H3611/H-3611.html OhmartVega - http://www.ohmartvega.com/en/index.htm Sutron – http://www.sutron.com/products/RadarLevelRecorder.htm

The Miros SM094 sensor at a USACE testing facility.

AIR GAP RESULTS: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/tecrpt42.pdf

Testing and evaluating sensors fromfour manufacturers:

Mean Sea Level Trends for Global Water Level

StationsIn addition to the 117 US stations analyzed for sea level trends, 44 global stations were added to Sea Levels Online website in 2006. The global data were obtained from PSMSL.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends_global.shtml

Analysis of Gaps in Network Coverage

NOAA has completed a network design study

GIS tools and error analysis of tidal datum accuracy are used to determine geographic areas lacking tidal station coverage

The gaps are used to prioritize NOAA network expansion

29 long-term NWLON stations are within 10 km of National

Geodetic Survey CORS-GPS stations

CO-OPS Station ID

Station Name

NGS CORS ID

Distance (km)

1612340 Honolulu, HI HNLC 0.01617760 Hilo, HI HILO 1.31770000 Pago Pago ASPA 5.81820000 Kwajalein KWJ1 1.02695540 Bermuda BRMU 0.78410140 Eastport, ME EPRT 0.88413320 Bar Harbor, ME BARH 1.48419870 Seavey Island, ME POR4 2.88452660 Newport, RI NPRI 0.58531680 Sandy Hook, NJ SHK5 0.58551910 Reedy Point, DE RED5 0.58571892 Cambridge, MD HNPT 5.78577330 Solomons Island, MD SOL1 0.28594900 Washington, DC USNO 6.48631044 Wachapreague, VA VIMS 0.28637624 Gloucester Point, VA GLPT 0.28651370 Duck, NC DUCK 0.48665530 Charleston, SC SCCC 1.28723170 Miami Beach, FL AOML and MIA3 4.88724580 Key West, FL KWST 5.58735180 Dauphin Island, AL MOB1 5.58761724 Grand Isle, LA GRIS 0.19410170 San Diego, CA PLO5 8.49435380 South Beach, OR NEWP 4.79443090 Neah Bay, WA NEAH 7.89447130 Seattle, WA SEAT 5.99455760 Nikiski, AK KEN1 2.89455920 Anchorage, AK TSEA 5.79457292 Kodiak Island, AK KODK 0.7

NGS has or will be installing new CORS-GPS receivers as close as possible to water level stations at The Battery, Fort Pulaski, and Key West

Honolulu, HI

GPS crustal motion correction to sea level

trendsUsing global positioning system-derived crustal velocities to estimate rates of absolute sea level change from North American tide gauge recordsR. Snay, M. Cline, W. Dillinger,

R. Foote, S. Hilla, W. Kass,

J. Ray, J. Rohde, G. Sella,

and T. Soler

Journal of Geophysical

Research, Vol. 112, 2007-3

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Atlantic Gulf Pacific Other

Coastal Land Motion and Relative Sea Level

ChangeSpace geodetic determination of spatial variability in relative sea level change, Los Angeles basin

B.A. Brooks, M. A. Merrifield, J. Foster, C. L. Werner, F. Gomez, M. Bevis and S. Gill

Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, 2007

Interferometric Point Target Analysis of SAR Data