Spatial trend patterns in the Pacific Ocean sea level during the altimetry era: the contribution of thermocline depth change and internal climate variability

AbstractSea level changes within wide temporal–spatial scales have great influence on oceanic and atmospheric circulations. Efforts have been made to identify long-term sea level trend and regional sea level variations on different time scales. A nonuniform sea level rise in the tropical Pacific and the strengthening of the easterly trade winds from 1993 to 2012 have been widely reported. It is well documented that sea level in the tropical Pacific is associated with the typical climate modes. However, sea level change on interannual and decadal time scales still requires more research. In this study, the Pacific sea level anomaly (SLA) was decomposed into interannual and decadal time scales via an ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method. The temporal–spatial features of the SLA variability in the Pacific were examined and were closely associated with climate variability modes. Moreover, decadal SLA oscillations in the Pacific Ocean were identified during 1993–2016, with the phase reversals around 2000, 2004, and 2012. In the tropical Pacific, large sea level variations in the western and central basin were a result of changes in the equatorial wind stress. Moreover, coherent decadal changes could also be seen in wind stress, sea surface temperature (SST), subtropical cells (STCs), and thermocline depth. Our work provided a new way to illustrate the interannual and decadal sea level variations in the Pacific Ocean and suggested a coupled atmosphere–ocean variability on a decadal time scale in the tropical region with two cycles from 1993 to 2016.

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Consequences of an uncertain mass mortality regime triggered by climate variability on giant clam population management in the Pacific Ocean

Theoretical Population Biology ◽

10.1016/j.tpb.2017.10.005 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 119 ◽

pp. 37-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Simon Van Wynsberge ◽

Serge Andréfouët ◽

Nabila Gaertner-Mazouni ◽

Georges Remoissenet

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Population Management ◽

Mass Mortality ◽

Giant Clam ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Pacific Ocean ◽

Clam Population

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Equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves evidenced in the Pacific Ocean through Geosat sea level and surface current anomalies

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/90jc01758 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 96 (S01) ◽

pp. 3249 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

Thierry Delcroix ◽

Joël Picaut ◽

Gérard Eldin

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Sea Level ◽

Rossby Waves ◽

Surface Current ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Pacific Ocean

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Reconstructed temperature for Yong'an, Fujian, Southeast China: Linkages to the Pacific Ocean climate variability

Global and Planetary Change ◽

10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.01.005 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 86-87 ◽

pp. 11-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Feng Chen ◽

Yu-jiang Yuan ◽

Wen-shou Wei ◽

Shu-long Yu ◽

Tong-wen Zhang

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Southeast China ◽

Ocean Climate ◽

The Pacific ◽

Reconstructed Temperature ◽

The Pacific Ocean

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The precipitation variability of the wet and dry season at the interannual and interdecadal scales over eastern China (1901–2016): the impacts of the Pacific Ocean

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-25-1467-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 1467-1481

Author(s):

Tao Gao ◽

Fuqiang Cao ◽

Li Dan ◽

Ming Li ◽

Xiang Gong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Eastern China ◽

Wavelet Coherence ◽

Spatiotemporal Variability ◽

Climatic Research Unit ◽

Wet Season ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Pacific Ocean

Abstract. The spatiotemporal variability of rainfall in the dry (October–March) and wet (April–September) seasons over eastern China is examined from 1901–2016 based on the gridded rainfall dataset from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. Principal component analysis is employed to identify the dominant variability modes, wavelet coherence is utilized to investigate the spectral features of the leading modes of precipitation and their coherences with the large-scale modes of climate variability, and the Bayesian dynamical linear model is adopted to quantify the time-varying correlations between climate variability modes and rainfall in the dry and wet seasons. Results show that first and second principal components (PCs) account for 34.2 % (16.1 %) and 13.4 % (13.9 %) of the variance in the dry (wet) season, and their variations are roughly coincident with phase shifts of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in both seasons. The anomalous moisture fluxes responsible for the occurrence of precipitation events in eastern China exhibit an asymmetry between high and light rainfall years in the dry (wet) season. The ENSO has a 4- to 8-year signal of the statistically positive (negative) association with rainfall during the dry (wet) season over eastern China. The statistically significant positive (negative) associations between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and precipitation are found with a 9- to 15-year (4- to 7-year) signal. The impacts of the PDO on rainfall in eastern China exhibit multiple timescales as compared to the ENSO episodes, while the PDO triggers a stronger effect on precipitation in the wet season than the dry half year. The interannual and interdecadal variations in rainfall over eastern China are substantially modulated by drivers originated from the Pacific Ocean. During the wet season, the ENSO exerted a gradually weakening effect on eastern China rainfall from 1901 to 2016, while the effects of the PDO decreased before the 1980s, and then shifted into increases after the 2000s. The finding provides a metric for assessing the capability of climate models and guidance of seasonal prediction.

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Pacific Sea Levels Rising Very Slowly and Not Accelerating

Quaestiones Geographicae ◽

10.2478/quageo-2019-0007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 179-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Albert Parker ◽

Clifford Ollier

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Sea Level ◽

Relative Rate ◽

Tide Gauges ◽

Sea Levels ◽

The Past ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Pacific Ocean ◽

Long Term Trend

AbstractOver the past decades, detailed surveys of the Pacific Ocean atoll islands show no sign of drowning because of accelerated sea-level rise. Data reveal that no atoll lost land area, 88.6% of islands were either stable or increased in area, and only 11.4% of islands contracted. The Pacific Atolls are not being inundated because the sea level is rising much less than was thought. The average relative rate of rise and acceleration of the 29 long-term-trend (LTT) tide gauges of Japan, Oceania and West Coast of North America, are both negative, −0.02139 mm yr−1and −0.00007 mm yr−2respectively. Since the start of the 1900s, the sea levels of the Pacific Ocean have been remarkably stable.

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