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Evaluation of the Global Mean Sea Level Budget between 1993 and 2014

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Abstract

Evaluating global mean sea level (GMSL) in terms of its components—mass and steric—is useful for both quantifying the accuracy of the measurements and understanding the processes that contribute to GMSL rise. In this paper, we review the GMSL budget over two periods—1993 to 2014 and 2005 to 2014—using multiple data sets of both total GMSL and the components (mass and steric). In addition to comparing linear trends, we also compare the level of agreement of the time series. For the longer period (1993–2014), we find closure in terms of the long-term trend but not for year-to-year variations, consistent with other studies. This is due to the lack of sufficient estimates of the amount of natural water mass cycling between the oceans and hydrosphere. For the more recent period (2005–2014), we find closure in both the long-term trend and for month-to-month variations. This is also consistent with previous studies.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is the outcome of an International Space Science Institute Workshop (ISSI) “Integrative Study of Sea Level”, and ISSI provided travel funding for the authors to attend the workshop. The Argo data were collected and made freely available by the International Argo Program and the national programs that contribute to it (http://www.argo.ucsd.edu and http://argo.jcommops.org). The Argo Program is part of the Global Ocean Observing System. DPC was supported by NASA Grant NNX12AL28G and internal funding from the University of South Florida. WL was supported by a CNES post‐doctoral fellowship carried out at CERFACS. HD is supported by a doctoral fellowship of the European Space Agency within the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Programme.

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Correspondence to Don P. Chambers.

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Chambers, D.P., Cazenave, A., Champollion, N. et al. Evaluation of the Global Mean Sea Level Budget between 1993 and 2014. Surv Geophys 38, 309–327 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-016-9381-3

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