Accurate comparisons between past and present climate
variations require long and consistent data records. Two primary
sources of sea level measurements over the past century are: 1) tide
gauges with long records but poor spatial coverage, and 2) satellite
altimetry with near-global spatial coverage but short (∼20 years)
length. Sea level reconstructions are formed by using the spatial
patterns from the satellite altimetry and fitting to the long tide gauge
records. The result is a dataset with the record length of the tide
gauges and the spatial coverage of the satellite altimetry. Using
these methods, Hamlington et al. (2012) extended the sea level record
back to 1900. On global scales, the reconstruction of Hamlington et
al. (2012) shows significant improvement in terms of the ability to
accurately represent regional sea level variability when compared to
other reconstructions. On regional and local scales, however, questions
remain regarding the information such reconstructions can provide.
In Korea, natural disaster rates around coastal zones are increasing, which
have been attributed to chance events or climate change. By examining sea
level in the region, we can begin to address the causes of the increasing
rate, while simultaneously evaluating ways to improve reconstruction on
regional scales. In this study, we reconstruct the sea level around the
Korean Peninsula from 1900 to 2013 using observational data and the CSEOF
(cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function) bivariate reconstruction
method. CSEOFs derived from satellite altimetry are first to fit to
historical sea level measurements from tide gauges in the region. Then, to
improve the reconstruction performance, we incorporate sea surface
temperature measurements using the technique of Hamlington et al. (2012).
The results are compared to the satellite altimetry, tide gauge data and
global reconstructions. The potential applications of this work are
outlined and discussed in terms of how we can gain an improved understanding
of future sea level around the Korean Peninsula.
Se-Hyeon Cheon has been a visiting scholar at ODU since November 2014. He is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Seoul National University in South Korea. His specific major is Coastal and Harbor Engineering and his Master's thesis was about the development of a numerical model for 2-dimensional sediment transport. Now, he is conducting research with Dr. Benjamin Hamlington to predict climate change impacts on wave condition around the Korean Peninsula applying CSEOF (Cyclo-Stationary Empirical Orthogonal Function) analysis.
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