Mass-induced sea level change in the northwestern North Pacific and its contribution to total sea level change
Over the period 2003–2011, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite pair revealed a remarkable variability in mass‐induced sea surface height (MSSH) in the northwestern North Pacific. A significant correlation is found between MSSH and observed total sea surface height (SSH), in...
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Published in | Geophysical research letters Vol. 40; no. 15; pp. 3975 - 3980 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
16.08.2013
John Wiley & Sons, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Over the period 2003–2011, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite pair revealed a remarkable variability in mass‐induced sea surface height (MSSH) in the northwestern North Pacific. A significant correlation is found between MSSH and observed total sea surface height (SSH), indicative of the importance of barotropic variability in this region. For the period 2003–2011, MSSH rose at a rate of 6.1 ± 0.7 mm/yr, which has a significant contribution to the SSH rise (8.3 ± 0.7 mm/yr). Analysis of the barotropic vorticity equation based on National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis product, GRACE, and altimetry data suggests that the MSSH signal is primarily caused by negative wind stress curl associated with an anomalous anticyclonic atmospheric circulation. Regression analysis indicates that trends in MSSH and surface wind are related to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, whose index had a decreasing trend in the last decade.
Key Points
Remarkable variability in MSSH is found in the northwestern North Pacific
For the period 2003‐2011, MSSH has significant contribution to the SSH rise
Trends in MSSH and surface wind are related to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation |
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Bibliography: | Youth Innovation Promotion Association," CAS - No. SQ201204; No. LTOZZ1202 ark:/67375/WNG-XCWHJL15-0 istex:2B07358C5C8C13BC798CD9B494CE23D6EA369A94 National Basic Research Program of China - No. 2010CB950303; No. 2012CB955603 ArticleID:GRL50748 National Natural Science Foundation of China - No. 41176023; No. 41276108; No. 41006006 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
DOI: | 10.1002/grl.50748 |