In:
Ocean Science, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 18, No. 4 ( 2022-07-15), p. 997-1053
Abstract:
Abstract. Employed for over a century, the traditional way of monitoring sea level
variability by tide gauges – in combination with modern observational
techniques like satellite altimetry – is an inevitable ingredient in sea level
studies over the climate scales and in coastal seas. The development of the
instrumentation, remote data acquisition, processing, and archiving in the last
decades has allowed the extension of the applications to a variety of users
and coastal hazard managers. The Mediterranean and Black seas are examples
of such a transition – while having a long tradition of sea level
observations with several records spanning over a century, the number of
modern tide gauge stations is growing rapidly, with data available both in
real time and as a research product at different time resolutions. As no
comprehensive survey of the tide gauge networks has been carried out
recently in these basins, the aim of this paper is to map the existing
coastal sea level monitoring infrastructures and the respective data
availability. The survey encompasses a description of major monitoring
networks in the Mediterranean and Black seas and their characteristics,
including the type of sea level sensors, measuring resolutions, data
availability, and existence of ancillary measurements, altogether collecting
information about 240 presently operational tide gauge stations. The
availability of the Mediterranean and Black seas sea level data in the
global and European sea level repositories has been also screened and
classified following their sampling interval and level of quality check,
pointing to the necessity of harmonization of the data available with
different metadata and series in different repositories. Finally, an
assessment of the networks' capabilities for their use in different sea
level applications has been done, with recommendations that might mitigate
the bottlenecks and ensure further development of the networks in a
coordinated way, a critical need in the era of human-induced climate changes
and sea level rise.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1812-0792
DOI:
10.5194/os-18-997-2022
DOI:
10.5194/os-18-997-2022-supplement
Language:
English
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbH
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2183769-7
