Rory J. Bingham

Lower satellite-gravimetry estimates of Antarctic sea-level contribution

Recent estimates of Antarctica’s present-day rate of ice-mass contribution to changes in sea level range from 31 gigatonnes a year (Gt yr−1; ref. 1) to 246 Gt yr−1 (ref. 2), a range that cannot be reconciled within formal errors. Time-varying rates of mass loss contribute to this, but substantial technique-specific systematic errors also exist. In particular, estimates of secular ice-mass change derived from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data are dominated by significant uncertainty in the accuracy of models of mass change due to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Here we adopt a new model of GIA, developed from geological constraints, which produces GIA rates systematically lower than those of previous models, and an improved fit to independent uplift data. After applying the model to 99 months (from August 2002 to December 2010) of GRACE data, we estimate a continent-wide ice-mass change of −69 ± 18 Gt yr−1 (+0.19 ± 0.05 mm yr−1 sea-level equivalent). This is about a third to a half of the most recently published GRACE estimates, which cover a similar time period but are based on older GIA models. Plausible GIA model uncertainties, and errors relating to removing longitudinal GRACE artefacts (‘destriping’), confine our estimate to the range −126 Gt yr−1 to −29 Gt yr−1 (0.08–0.35 mm yr−1 sea-level equivalent). We resolve 26 independent drainage basins and find that Antarctic mass loss, and its acceleration, is concentrated in basins along the Amundsen Sea coast. Outside this region, we find that West Antarctica is nearly in balance and that East Antarctica is gaining substantial mass.

Meridional coherence of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

The North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) is associated with deep water formation at high latitudes, and climatically-important ocean-atmosphere heat fluxes, hence the current substantial effort to monitor the MOC. While it is expected that, on sufficiently long time scales, variations in the MOC would be coherent across latitudes south of the deep water formation region, it is not clear whether coherence should be expected at shorter timescales. In this paper, we investigate the coherence of MOC variations in a range of ocean models. We find that, across a range of model physics, resolution, and forcing scenarios, there is a change in the character of the overturning north and south of about 40 degrees N. To the north the variability has a strong decadal component, while to the south higher frequencies dominate. This acts to significantly reduce the meridional coherence of the MOC, even on interannual timescales. A physical interpretation in terms of an underlying meridionally coherent mode, strongest at high latitudes, but swamped by higher frequency, more localised processes south of 40 degrees N is provided. Citation: Bingham, R. J., C. W. Hughes, V. Roussenov, and R. G. Williams ( 2007), Meridional coherence of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Signature of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in sea level along the east coast of North America

In this letter we examine the relationship between the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) and sea level (SL) along the east coast of North America. In the eddy permitting ocean model OCCAM we find a distinctive, topography-following pattern of SL variability in the western North Atlantic that is closely linked with the changing strength of the MOC, with a 2 cm drop in SL along the US east coast corresponding to a 1Sv increase in the MOC. We find a similar pattern of SL variability in the altimetry record and show that this meridionally coherent SL mode dominates interannual SL variability at tide gauges along the North American east coast between 40–50N. Hence we conclude that North American coastal sea-level may indeed be a useful indicator of MOC variability on interannual timescales, allowing an observationally-based estimate of the likely range of interannual MOC fluctuations to be determined. Citation: Bingham, R. J., and C. W. Hughes (2009), Signature of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in sea level along the east coast of North America, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L02603, doi:10.1029/2008GL036215.

An initial estimate of the North Atlantic steady-state geostrophic circulation from GOCE

The GOCE satellite mission was launched in 2009 and the first gravity models were released in July 2010. Here we present an initial assessment of the GOCE data in terms of the mean circulation of the North Atlantic. We show that with just two months of data, the estimated circulation from GOCE is already superior to a similar estimate based on 8 years of GRACE observations. This result primarily depends on the fact that the GOCE mean dynamic topography (MDT) is generally less noisy than that obtained from the GRACE data. It therefore requires less smoothing and so there is less attenuation of the oceanographic signal. Our results provide a strong validation of the GOCE mission concept, and we anticipate further substantial improvements as the mission progresses.

Calculating the Ocean’s Mean Dynamic Topography from a Mean Sea Surface and a Geoid

In principle the global mean geostrophic surface circulation of the ocean can be diagnosed by subtracting a geoid from a mean sea surface (MSS). However, because the resulting mean dynamic topography (MDT) is approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than either of the constituent surfaces, and because the geoid is most naturally expressed as a spectral model while the MSS is a gridded product, in practice complications arise. Two algorithms for combining MSS and satellite-derived geoid data to determine the ocean’s mean dynamic topography (MDT) are considered in this paper: a pointwise approach, whereby the gridded geoid height field is subtracted from the gridded MSS; and a spectral approach, whereby the spherical harmonic coefficients of the geoid are subtracted from an equivalent set of coefficients representing the MSS, from which the gridded MDT is then obtained. The essential difference is that with the latter approach the MSS is truncated, a form of filtering, just as with the geoid. This ensures that errors of omission resulting from the truncation of the geoid, which are small in comparison to the geoid but large in comparison to the MDT, are matched, and therefore negated, by similar errors of omission in the MSS. The MDTs produced by both methods require additional filtering. However, the spectral MDT requires less filtering to remove noise, and therefore it retains more oceanographic information than its pointwise equivalent. The spectral method also results in a more realistic MDT at coastlines.

Towards worldwide height system unification using ocean information

Abstract We describe the application of ocean levelling to worldwide height system unification. The study involves a comparison of ‘geodetic’ and ‘ocean’ approaches to determination of the mean dynamic topography (MDT) at the coast, from which confidence in the accuracy of stateof- the-art ocean and geoid models can be obtained. We conclude that models are consistent at the sub-decimetre level for the regions that we have studied (North Atlantic coastlines and islands, North American Pacific coast and Mediterranean). That level of consistency provides an estimate of the accuracy of using the ocean models to provide an MDT correction to the national datums of countries with coastlines, and thereby of achieving unification. It also provides a validation of geoid model accuracy for application to height system unification in general. We show how our methods can be applied worldwide, as long as the necessary data sets are available, and explain why such an extension of the present study is necessary if worldwide height system unification is to be realised.

The relationship between sea-level and bottom pressure variability in an eddy permitting ocean model

We investigate the relationship between sea-level (after application of an inverse-barometer correction) and ocean bottom pressure, in an eddy-permitting ocean model. We find the presence of eddies can disrupt this relationship even on timescales as short as 10–20 days, but only in the regions of most energetic eddy variability. Away from eddies, the relationship is similar to that seen in a coarserresolution model, with a tight relationship between sea-level and bottom pressure at high frequencies, but with significant correlations between sea-level and bottom pressure at interannual timescales seen only in shelf sea regions. In the deep ocean, regions where sea-level and bottom pressure remain related out to the longest timescales are in the Arctic Ocean and regions of the Southern Ocean, where particularly large amplitude barotropic fluctuations are found but where the mesoscale signal is weak

Mean dynamic topography: intercomparisons and errors

Knowledge of the ocean dynamic topography, defined as the height of the sea surface above its rest-state (the geoid), would allow oceanographers to study the absolute circulation of the ocean and determine the associated geostrophic surface currents that help to regulate the Earths climate. Here a novel approach to computing a mean dynamic topography (MDT), together with an error field, is presented for the northern North Atlantic. The method uses an ensemble of MDTs, each of which has been produced by the assimilation of hydrographic data into a numerical ocean model, to form a composite MDT, and uses the spread within the ensemble as a measure of the error on this MDT. The r.m.s. error for the composite MDT is 3.2 cm, and for the associated geostrophic currents the r.m.s. error is 2.5 cm s−1. Taylor diagrams are used to compare the composite MDT with several MDTs produced by a variety of alternative methods. Of these, the composite MDT is found to agree remarkably well with an MDT based on the GRACE geoid GGM01C. It is shown how the composite MDT and its error field are useful validation products against which other MDTs and their error fields can be compared.

Weighing the ocean: Using a single mooring to measure changes in the mass of the ocean

[1] Combining ocean and earth models, we show that there is a region in the central Pacific ocean where ocean bottom pressure is a direct measure of interannual changes in ocean mass, with a noise level for annual means below 3 mm water equivalent, and a trend error below 1 mm/yr. We demonstrate this concept using existing ocean bottom pressure measurements from the region, from which we extract the annual cycle of ocean mass (amplitude 8.5 mm, peaking in late September), which is in agreement with previous determinations based on complex combinations of global data sets. This method sidesteps a number of limitations in satellite gravity-based calculations, but its direct implementation is currently limited by the precision of pressure sensors, which suffer from significant drift. Development of a low-drift method to measure ocean bottom pressure at a few sites could provide an important geodetic constraint on the earth system. Citation: Hughes, C. W., M. E. Tamisiea, R. J. Bingham, and J. Williams (2012), Weighing the ocean: Using a single mooring to measure changes in themass ofthe ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L17602, doi:10.1029/2012GL052935.

GOCE data, models, and applications : a review

With the launch of the Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) in 2009 the science in gravity got another boost. After the time-lapse and long-wavelength studies from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) a new sensor was available for determination of the Earths gravity field and geoid with high accuracy and spatial resolution. Equipped with a 6-component gradiometer and flying at an altitude of 260 km and less GOCE provides the most detailed measurements of Earths gravity from space ever. On top, GOCE also provides gravity gradients, i.e., the three-dimensional second derivatives of the gravitational potential. This paper provides a review of the results presented at the ‘GOCE solid Earth workshop’ at the University of Twente, The Netherlands (2012), where an overview was given of the present status of the data models, and applications with GOCE which form the basis for this special issue and the review in this paper. An introduction will be given to the GOCE satellite followed by an overview of GOCE data and gravity models. The present state of GOCE related research in geodesy, oceanography and solid Earth sciences indicates the first steps taken to integrate GOCE in the different application fields. For all three fields an overview is given on the most recent scientific results and developments, and first results specifically focusing on these studies where GOCE data has made a unique contribution and provides insights that would not have been possible without GOCE