HR: 16:00h
AN: G44A-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Satellite and In Situ Observations of Regional Sea Level Change: What can they tell us about future changes?
AU: * Nerem, R S
EM: nerem@colorado.edu
AF: Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, 431UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0431, United States
AU: Dorsi, S
EM: Samuel.Dorsi@Colorado.EDU
AF: Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, 431UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0431, United States
AU: Willis, J K
EM: joshua.k.willis@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr. M/S 300-323, Pasadena, CA 91109, United States
AU: Chambers, D P
EM: chambers@csr.utexas.edu
AF: Center for Space Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
AU: Mitchum, G T
EM: mitchum@marine.usf.edu
AF: College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States
AB: Satellite altimetry has provided precise globally-distributed sea level measurements since the early 1990s. With 15 years of measurements now in hand, we can start to examine the regional patterns of the trend in sea level change over this interval. In situ ocean termperature measurements (XBTs, ARGO) show that the geographic variations in sea level change are dominated by variations in thermosteric sea level change. However, the melting of mountain glaciers and the polar ice sheets are also expected to create distinct patterns of regional sea level change. While these have yet to be detected in the altimeter data, satellite gravity missions such as GRACE provide a means of monitoring the ice melt contributions directly. With these satellite tools, knowledge of how the sea level responds to each contribution (thermal expansion, mountain glaciers, Greenland, etc.), and output from coupled climate models, we can begin to put together a framework for predicting what regional sea level change will look like in the future. We will discuss the current limitations of such predictions, and what other information is needed to enhance the reliability of these estimates. A critical missing piece required for these predictions is knowledge of how land motion contributes to the relative sea level change seen along the coasts.
UR: http://sealevel.colorado.edu
DE: 1223 Ocean/Earth/atmosphere/hydrosphere/cryosphere interactions (0762, 1218, 3319, 4550)
DE: 1225 Global change from geodesy (1222, 1622, 1630, 1641, 1645, 4556)
DE: 4556 Sea level: variations and mean (1222, 1225, 1641)
SC: Geodesy [G]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting