Abstract：In this paper, ocean temperature and salinity data from three different Argo data processing centers (JAMSTEC, SIO, IPRC) are used to analyze global steric sea level (SSL) change at different temporal and spatial scales during 2005-2015. Our results show that the global mean steric sea level change rate (due to the seawater density variations) is 1.08±0.38 mm/a during 2005-2015. Due to strong inter-annual variations, the SSL rate during the recent period (2011-2015) is significantly greater than that over the earlier period (2005-2010) (2.16±0.50 vs. 0.66±0.64 mm/a). Up to now, the 3 Argo estimated global mean long-term SSL trends differ by ~10%, compared to their average. However, the differences reach up to 80% (of their average) for regional variations in 6 selected latitude zones (with 20° latitude widths). The spatial patterns of global seasonal and long-term SSL variations show significant differences in small regional scales (e.g., ~ 5° spatial scales) among the 3 Argo estimates, either.
LI Zi’ang,CHEN Jianli,LI Jin et al. Temporal and Spatial Variations of Global Steric Sea Level Change from Argo Observations, 2005-2015[J]. jgg, 2018, 38(9): 923-929.
