A major challenge for managing impacts and implementing effective mitigation measures and adaptation strategies for coastal zones affected by future sea level (SL) rise is our limited capacity to predict SL change at the coast on relevant spatial and temporal scales. Predicting coastal SL requires the ability to monitor and simulate a multitude of physical processes affecting SL, from local effects of wind waves and river runoff to remote influences of the large-scale ocean circulation on the coast. Here we assess our current understanding of the causes of coastal SL variability on monthly to multi-decadal timescales, including geodetic, oceanographic and atmospheric aspects of the problem, and review available observing systems informing on coastal SL. We also review the ability of existing models and data assimilation systems to estimate coastal SL variations and of atmosphere-ocean global coupled models and related regional downscaling efforts to project future SL changes. We discuss (1) observational gaps and uncertainties, and priorities for the development of an optimal and integrated coastal SL observing system, (2) strategies for advancing model capabilities in forecasting short-term processes and projecting long-term changes affecting coastal SL, and (3) possible future developments of sea level services enabling better connection of scientists and user communities and facilitating assessment and decision making for adaptation to future coastal SL change.
1.Atmospher & Environm Res Inc, Lexington, MA 02421 USA 2.Univ Hamburg, CEN, Hamburg, Germany 3.Fed Univ Rio de Janeiro UFRJ, Inst Geoci, Dept Meteorol, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 4.Univ Tasmania, CLEX, IMAS, ACE CRC, Hobart, Tas, Australia 5.Natl Oceanog Ctr, Liverpool, Merseyside, England 6.Meteorol Serv Singapore, Ctr Climate Res Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 7.UIB, CSIC, IMEDEA, Esporles, Spain 8.Univ S Florida, Coll Marine Sci, Tampa, FL USA 9.Univ Utrecht, Inst Marine & Atmospher Res Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands 10.Univ Utrecht, Geosci, Phys Geog, Utrecht, Netherlands 11.MAGELLIUM, Ramonville St Agne, France 12.Univ Western Brittany, LOPS, CNRS, IRD,Ifremer,IUEM, Brest, France 13.Univ La Rochelle, CNRS, LIENSs, La Rochelle, France 14.European Space Agcy ESA ESRIN, Frascati, Italy 15.Univ Toulouse, LEGOS CNES, CNRS, IRD, Toulouse, France 16.ISSI, Bern, Switzerland 17.Old Dominion Univ, CCPO, Norfolk, VA USA 18.Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA USA 19.Princeton Univ, NOAA, Geophys Fluid Dynam Lab, Atmospher & Ocean Sci Program, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA 20.Univ Colorado, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA 21.Univ Liverpool, Sch Environm Sci, Dept Earth Ocean & Ecol Sci, Liverpool, Merseyside, England 22.Bur Rech Geol & Minieres, Orleans, France 23.Univ Miami, RSMAS, Miami, FL USA 24.Mercator Ocean Int, Ramonville St Agne, France 25.Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA 26.Hokkaido Univ, Fac Sci, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 27.Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP,IGE, Grenoble, France 28.CNES, Toulouse, France 29.Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA 30.NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Geodesy & Geophys Lab, Greenbelt, MD USA 31.Univ Toulouse, GET, CNRS, IRD,UPS, Toulouse, France 32.Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Inst Coastal Res, Geesthacht, Germany 33.Dalhousie Univ, Dept Oceanog, Halifax, NS, Canada 34.Univ Hawaii Manoa, Dept Oceanog, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA 35.CNR, Pisa, Italy 36.Univ Oxford, Dept Phys, Clarendon Lab, Oxford, England 37.CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Ctr Southern Hemisphere Oceans Res, Hobart, Tas, Australia
Recommended Citation:
Ponte, Rui M.,Carson, Mark,Cirano, Mauro,et al. Towards Comprehensive Observing and Modeling Systems for Monitoring and Predicting Regional to Coastal Sea Level[J]. FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE,2019-01-01,6