Comparing satellite altimetry and tide gauges observations in the Mediterranean Sea within the framework of singular spectrum analysis

Abstract

By considering time series from satellite altimetry and tide gauges that extend back to 1993, Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) is applied to investigate and compare the non linear trends of the sea level along the Mediterranean coasts. The major issue of this comparison is to show if the satellite altimetry data could be representative of the local sea level as observed by tide gauges.

The results indicate that the local trends estimated from an in-situ tide gauge and satellite altimetry data show nearly identical positive rates over the period from 1993 to 2017. The differences between the estimated rates of sea level change from in-situ tide gauge and satellite measurements vary, in absolute value, from 0.18 to 4.29 mm/year with an average of 1.55 mm/year.

This result is sufficient to admit, if necessary, on the one hand, the complementarily of the two measurement techniques (satellite altimetry and tide gauges) and, on the other hand, the rise in sea level near the Mediterranean coastal areas.