Comparative Assessment of the Recent Global Mean Sea Surface Models using Tidal Bench Mark Observation Data around Korea

Abstract

Lee, D.H.; Acharya, T.D., and Jang, W.H., 2019. Comparative assessment of the recent global mean sea surface models using tidal bench mark observation data around Korea. In: Lee, J.L.; Yoon, J.-S.; Cho, W.C.; Muin, M., and Lee, J. (eds.), The 3rd International Water Safety Symposium. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 91, pp.401-405. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Mean Sea Surface (MSS) provides the basic information of mean height of the water level above a reference surface over a year. These are used to understand the characters of the undersea topography and are widely used in geodesy, geophysics, oceanography (operational oceanography, modeling, ocean variability studies). MSS can be obtained from range of techniques such as LiDAR, altimetry, etc. Depending upon the data source and processing method the quality is varied. In the past decade, significant advances in global MSS modelling have been made with the release of the altimetry satellites. These data cover most of the oceans and are freely available, which benefits areas with poor geospatial infrastructure or inaccessible areas. Since, their applications depend on the accuracy of global MSS, their evaluation should be done as preliminary step. MSS models for specific regions can be analyzed based on comparison with the coastal Tidal Bench Marks (TBMs) observations. This paper aims to assess the accuracy of the recent global MSS models in comparison with TBM observation data around Korea. First data were collected, and necessary statistics were calculated. As the characteristics of the sea around Korea are different, there different cases of East, West and South seas were also calculated along with profile plots. Result shows WHU13 shows less difference with TBM while CNESCLS15 and DTU13 are more correlated. In case of Korean sea, combined used of TBM near coast and WHU13 far in sea can be used.