Detection and attribution of intra-annual mass component of sea-level variations along the Norwegian coast

Abstract

Reliable sea-level observations in coastal regions are needed to assess the impact of sea level on coastal communities and ecosystems. This paper evaluates the ability of in-situ and remote sensing instruments to monitor and help explain the mass component of sea level along the coast of Norway. The general agreement between three different GRACE/GRACE-FO mascon solutions and a combination of satellite altimetry and hydrography gives us confidence to explore the mass component of sea level in coastal areas on intra-annual timescales. At first, the estimates reveal a large spatial-scale coherence of the sea-level mass component on the shelf, which agrees with Ekman theory. Then, they suggest a link between the mass component of sea level and the along-slope wind stress integrated along the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic, which agrees with the theory of poleward propagating coastal trapped waves. These results highlight the potential of the sea-level mass component from GRACE and GRACE-FO, satellite altimetry and the hydrographic stations over the Norwegian shelf. Moreover, they indicate that GRACE and GRACE-FO can be used to monitor and understand the intra-annual variability of the mass component of sea level in the coastal ocean, especially where in-situ measurements are sparse or absent.