Sea-level variability in the Mediterranean Sea from altimetry and tide gauges

Bonaduce, Antonio; Pinardi, Nadia; Oddo, Paolo; Spada, Giorgio; Larnicol, Gilles

doi:10.1007/s00382-016-3001-2

Cited by 98 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…In the Mediterranean Sea, the sea level trend estimation (2.8 ± 0.26 mm year −1 ) was consistent with the results of previous studies based on in-situ and remote-sensing observations [34,101] when the resultant of the mass and thermosteric components was considered. This was not the case when the halosteric component was included, whose trends have high negative values that can lead to discrepancies when compared with the sea level trends obtained from observations (e.g., remote sensing), as underlined by Legeais et al [34].…”

Section: Regionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Steric Sea Level Changes from Ocean Reanalyses at Global and Regional Scales

Storto

Bonaduce

Feng

et al. 2019

Water

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Sea level has risen significantly in the recent decades and is expected to rise further based on recent climate projections. Ocean reanalyses that synthetize information from observing networks, dynamical ocean general circulation models, and atmospheric forcing data offer an attractive way to evaluate sea level trend and variability and partition the causes of such sea level changes at both global and regional scales. Here, we review recent utilization of reanalyses for steric sea level trend investigations. State-of-the-science ocean reanalysis products are then used to further infer steric sea level changes. In particular, we used an ensemble of centennial reanalyses at moderate spatial resolution (between 0.5 × 0.5 and 1 × 1 degree) and an ensemble of eddy-permitting reanalyses to quantify the trends and their uncertainty over the last century and the last two decades, respectively. All the datasets showed good performance in reproducing sea level changes. Centennial reanalyses reveal a 1900–2010 trend of steric sea level equal to 0.47 ± 0.04 mm year−1, in agreement with previous studies, with unprecedented rise since the mid-1990s. During the altimetry era, the latest vintage of reanalyses is shown to outperform the previous ones in terms of skill scores against the independent satellite data. They consistently reproduce global and regional upper ocean steric expansion and the association with climate variability, such as ENSO. However, the mass contribution to the global mean sea level rise is varying with products and its representability needs to be improved, as well as the contribution of deep and abyssal waters to the steric sea level rise. Similarly, high-resolution regional reanalyses for the European seas provide valuable information on sea level trends, their patterns, and their causes.

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Section: Regionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Steric Sea Level Changes from Ocean Reanalyses at Global and Regional Scales

Storto

Bonaduce

Feng

et al. 2019

Water

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“…of a few fractions of mm yr −1 Galassi and Spada, 2014b;Bonaduce et al, 2016). Future rates of GIA-induced sea-level variations across the whole Mediterranean Sea (Galassi and Spada, 2014a) will not change with respect to current trends since this phenomenon only evolves on millennial timescales.…”

Section: Sea-level Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Sea-level rise along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Northern Italy) in 2100: scenarios and impacts

Perini¹,

Calabrese²,

Luciani³

et al. 2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. As a consequence of climate change and land subsidence, coastal zones are directly impacted by sea-level rise. In some particular areas, the effects on the ecosystem and urbanisation are particularly enhanced. We focus on the EmiliaRomagna (E-R) coastal plain in Northern Italy, bounded by the Po river mouth to the north and by the Apennines to the south. The plain is ∼ 130 km long and is characterised by wide areas below mean sea level, in part made up of reclaimed wetlands. In this context, several morphodynamic factors make the shore and back shore unstable. During next decades, the combined effects of land subsidence and of the sea-level rise as a result of climate change are expected to enhance the shoreline instability, leading to further retreat. The consequent loss of beaches would impact the economy of the region, which is tightly connected with tourism infrastructures. Furthermore, the loss of wetlands and dunes would threaten the ecosystem, which is crucial for the preservation of life and the environment. These specific conditions show the importance of a precise definition of the possible local impacts of the ongoing and future climate variations. The aim of this work is the characterisation of vulnerability in different sectors of the coastal plain and the recognition of the areas in which human intervention is urgently required. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) sea-level scenarios are merged with new high-resolution terrain models, current data for local subsidence and predictions of the flooding model "in_CoastFlood" in order to develop different scenarios for the impact of sea-level rise projected to year 2100. First, the potential land loss due to the combined effect of subsidence and sea-level rise is extrapolated. Second, the increase in floodable areas as a result of storm surges is quantitatively determined. The results are expected to support the regional mitigation and adaptation strategies designed in response to climate change.

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“…In terms of the basic/core products that can be derived from observations, we have reported some of the gaps in coverage in both space and time for the different platforms, which are mainly due to the lack of observing planning at the Mediterranean Sea basin scale. Bonaduce et al (2016) demonstrated that the absence of sea level stations along the southern coasts means that estimating the basin mean sea level trend is not possible simply from tide gauges.…”

Section: Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

Tintoré¹,

Pinardi²,

Álvarez-Fanjul³

et al. 2019

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Tintoré et al. Sustained Mediterranean Observing Forecasting SystemThe Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system.

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Sea-level variability in the Mediterranean Sea from altimetry and tide gauges

Cited by 98 publications

References 74 publications

Steric Sea Level Changes from Ocean Reanalyses at Global and Regional Scales

Steric Sea Level Changes from Ocean Reanalyses at Global and Regional Scales

Sea-level rise along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Northern Italy) in 2100: scenarios and impacts

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

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