Open Access
River-discharge effects on United States Atlantic and Gulf coast sea-level changes
Christopher G. Piecuch,Andrew Kemp,Klaus Bittermann,Rui M. Ponte,Christopher M. Little,Simon E. Engelhart,Steven J. Lentz +6 more
- Vol. 2018
TLDR
In this paper, the authors explore the relation between observed river discharge and sea level on the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts over interannual and longer periods, and show that river-discharge and sea-level changes are significantly correlated, such that sea level rises between 0.01 and 0.08 cm for a 1 km3 annual river discharge increase, depending on region.Abstract:
Significance River discharge exerts an important influence on coastal ocean circulation but has been overlooked as a driver of historical coastal sea-level change and future coastal flood risk. We explore the relation between observed river discharge and sea level on the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts over interannual and longer periods. We formulate a theory that predicts the observed correspondence between river discharge and sea level, demonstrating a causal relation between the two variables. Our results highlight a significant but overlooked driver of coastal sea level, indicating the need for (1) improved resolution in remote sensing and modeling of the coastal zone and (2) inclusion of realistic river runoff variability in climate models. Identifying physical processes responsible for historical coastal sea-level changes is important for anticipating future impacts. Recent studies sought to understand the drivers of interannual to multidecadal sea-level changes on the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Ocean dynamics, terrestrial water storage, vertical land motion, and melting of land ice were highlighted as important mechanisms of sea-level change along this densely populated coast on these time scales. While known to exert an important control on coastal ocean circulation, variable river discharge has been absent from recent discussions of drivers of sea-level change. We update calculations from the 1970s, comparing annual river-discharge and coastal sea-level data along the Gulf of Maine, Mid-Atlantic Bight, South Atlantic Bight, and Gulf of Mexico during 1910–2017. We show that river-discharge and sea-level changes are significantly correlated (p<0.01), such that sea level rises between 0.01 and 0.08 cm for a 1 km3 annual river-discharge increase, depending on region. We formulate a theory that describes the relation between river-discharge and halosteric sea-level changes (i.e., changes in sea level related to salinity) as a function of river discharge, Earth’s rotation, and density stratification. This theory correctly predicts the order of observed increment sea-level change per unit river-discharge anomaly, suggesting a causal relation. Our results have implications for remote sensing, climate modeling, interpreting Common Era proxy sea-level reconstructions, and projecting coastal flood risk.read more
Citations
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Climate Extremes and Compound Hazards in a Warming World
Amir AghaKouchak,Felicia Chiang,Laurie S. Huning,C. A. Love,Iman Mallakpour,Omid Mazdiyasni,Hamed Moftakhari,Simon Michael Papalexiou,Elisa Ragno,Mojtaba Sadegh +9 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the threats posed by climate extremes to human health, economic stability, and the well-being of natural and built environments (e.g., 2003 European heat wave).
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Forcing Factors Affecting Sea Level Changes at the Coast
Philip L. Woodworth,Angélique Melet,Marta Marcos,Marta Marcos,Richard D. Ray,Guy Wöppelmann,Yoshi N. Sasaki,Mauro Cirano,Angela Hibbert,John M. Huthnance,Sebastià Monserrat,Mark A. Merrifield +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the characteristics of sea level variability at the coast focussing on how it differs from the variability in the nearby deep ocean and how it contributes to the historical mean sea level records obtained from tide gauges which are now used routinely in large-scale climate research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: Observed Transport and Variability
Eleanor Frajka-Williams,Isabelle J. Ansorge,Johanna Baehr,Harry L. Bryden,Maria Paz Chidichimo,Stuart A. Cunningham,Gokhan Danabasoglu,Shenfu Dong,Kathleen A. Donohue,Shane Elipot,Patrick Heimbach,N. Penny Holliday,Rebecca Hummels,Laura Jackson,Johannes Karstensen,Matthias Lankhorst,Isabela Le Bras,M. Susan Lozier,Elaine L. McDonagh,Christopher S. Meinen,Herlé Mercier,Bengamin I. Moat,Renellys C. Perez,Christopher G. Piecuch,Monika Rhein,Meric Srokosz,Kevin E. Trenberth,Sheldon Bacon,Gael Forget,Gustavo Goni,Dagmar Kieke,Jannes Koelling,Tarron Lamont,Gerard McCarthy,Christian Mertens,Uwe Send,David A. Smeed,Sabrina Speich,Marcel van den Berg,Denis L. Volkov,Chris Wilson +40 more
TL;DR: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is one of the major sources of energy and carbon flux in the North Atlantic Ocean as mentioned in this paper, and it has been extensively studied in the literature.
Journal ArticleDOI
Satellite Altimetry Measurements of Sea Level in the Coastal Zone
Stefano Vignudelli,Florence Birol,Jérôme Benveniste,Lee-Lueng Fu,Nicolas Picot,Matthias Raynal,Hélène Roinard +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the recent technical advances in processing and the new technological capabilities of satellite radar altimetry in the coastal zone and illustrate the fast-growing use of coastal data sets in coastal sea level research and applications, as highfrequency (tides and storm surge) and long-term sea level change studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Requirements for a Coastal Hazards Observing System
J. Benveniste,Anny Cazenave,Stefano Vignudelli,Luciana Fenoglio-Marc,Rashmi Shah,Rafael Almar,Ole Baltazar Andersen,Florence Birol,Pascal Bonnefond,Jerome Bouffard,Francesc M. Calafat,Estel Cardellach,Paolo Cipollini,Gonéri Le Cozannet,Claire Dufau,M. J. Fernandes,Frédéric Frappart,James L. Garrison,Christine Gommenginger,Guoqi Han,Jacob L. Høyer,Villy Kourafalou,Eric Leuliette,Zhijin Li,Hubert Loisel,Kristine S. Madsen,Marta Marcos,Angélique Melet,Benoit Meyssignac,Ananda Pascual,Marcello Passaro,Serni Ribó,Remko Scharroo,Y. Tong Song,Sabrina Speich,John Wilkin,Philip L. Woodworth,Guy Wöppelmann +37 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the main forcing agents acting on coastal regions (e.g., sea level, winds, waves and currents, river runoff, sediment supply and transport, vertical land motions, land use) and the induced coastal response are discussed.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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TL;DR: The main limitation in studies of the influence of rivers on coastal sea level has been the lack of consolidated discharge databases as mentioned in this paper, which is the main limitation of the current knowledge based on observational and modeling approaches.
Journal ArticleDOI
Low‐frequency variability in coastal sea level from tide gauges and altimetry
Sergey Vinogradov,Rui M. Ponte +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the extent to which tide gauge point measurements represent broader-scale conditions in the adjacent ocean, using detrended annual mean series and focusing on interannual variability, finding that the best agreement between tide gauge and altimeter series is found for mid-ocean islands in the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans and along the coast of western Australia.