Coastal infrastructureInvestigating changing sea levels
The sea level has been rising by an average of 3.1 millimeters a year since 1993. Long-term measurements recorded since the start of the twentieth century indicate an acceleration in the averaged sea level change. Coastal flooding and land loss are just some of the severe consequences. Traditionally, sea level changes are recorded at coastal tide gauge stations, which measure the water level relative to a fixed point of the Earth’s crust. Some of the records go back to the nineteenth century and provide important insights into sea level evolution. Since 1991 it has been possible to measure the surface of the oceans across the entire globe using satellite altimetry.
The sea level has been rising by an average of 3.1 millimeters a year since 1993. Long-term measurements recorded since the start of the twentieth century indicate an acceleration in the averaged sea level change. Coastal flooding and land loss are just some of the severe consequences. Geodesist Dr.-Ing. Luciana Fenoglio-Marc, is currently using satellite data to analyze sea level change and its causes.
The carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and other gasses entering the atmosphere as a result of human activity are changing its radiation balance, leading to increasing temperatures and, consequently, to a rising sea level.
Traditionally, sea level changes are recorded at coastal tide gauge stations, which measure the water level relative to a fixed point of the Earth’s crust. Some of the records go back to the nineteenth century and provide important insights into sea level evolution.
Since 1991 it has been possible to measure the surface of the oceans across the entire globe using satellite altimetry, whereby the satellite emits a signal toward the ocean’s surface and receives the reflected echo. The sea level is calculated from the round-trip time between the satellite and the sea surface and the position of the satellite along its trajectory. Whilst the data from tide gauges provides information about local changes relative to the land, the use of altimeter satellites enables the recording of data in a global reference frame.
A TU-Darmstadt release reports that Fenoglio-Marc, a scientist specializing in physical and satellite geodesy at the TU Darmstadt’s Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, employs these and other satellite geodetic observation data in her research. Her work is based on altimeter data in combination with positional and gravitational field data derived from satellites.
Her objective is to analyze sea level changes and to understand its causes improving the processing of the satellite measurements as well as their use in simulations and forecasting methods.
