Abstract

An instrumental drift in the Point Target Response (PTR) parameters has been detected on the Copernicus Sentinel-3A (S3A) altimetry mission. It could have an impact on sea level rise of a few tenths of mm yr−1. In order to accurately evaluate this drift, a method for detecting global and local mean sea level relative drifts between two altimetry missions is implemented. Associated uncertainties are also accurately calculated thanks to a detailed error budget analysis. A drift on both S3A and S3B GMSL is detected with values significantly higher than expected. For S3A, the relative GMSL drift detected is 1.0 mm yr−1 with Jason-3 and 1.3 mm yr−1 with SARAL/AltiKa. For S3B, the relative GMSL drift detected is −2.2 mm yr−1 with SARAL/AltiKa and −3.4 mm yr−1 with Jason-3. The drift detected at global level does not show detectable regional variations above the uncertainty level of the proposed method. The investigations led by the altimeter experts can now explain the origin of this drift for S3A, while it is still under investigation for S3B. The ability of the implemented method to detect a sea level drift with respect to the length of the common period is also analysed. We find that the maximum detectable sea-level drift over a 5 years period is 0.3 mm yr−1 at the global scale, and 1.5 mm yr−1 at local scales (2400 km). However, these levels of uncertainty do not meet the sea-level stability requirements for climate change studies.

Highlights

  • Sea level is one of the key indicators of climate change, integrating the changes of mass in the ocean from glaciers and polar ice melt, changes in temperature of the ocean from the excess heat entering the earth system (Meyssignac et al, 2019, von Schuckmann et al, 2020), as well as changes in land water storage (Chambers et al, 2017)

  • Since the potential Global Mean SeaLevel (GMSL) drift detected on Sentinel9 3A (S3A) and S3B could have a regional signature, we propose to extend the detection of sea level drift to local scales

  • We have very likely detected a drift on the Copernicus S3A and S3B GMSL by implementing a method based on cross-comparison to Jason-3 and SARAL/AltiKa altimetry mission

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Summary

Introduction

Sea level is one of the key indicators of climate change, integrating the changes of mass in the ocean from glaciers and polar ice melt, changes in temperature of the ocean from the excess heat entering the earth system (Meyssignac et al, 2019, von Schuckmann et al, 2020), as well as changes in land water storage (Chambers et al, 2017). The Global Mean Sea. Level (GMSL) has been defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV), and the GMSL rise is a widely accepted indicator for the rate at which the climate is changing. The GMSL time series of each altimeter have been accurately linked together through inter-calibration during the tandem phases (Zawadzki and Ablain, 2016) : T/P--Jason-. The description of the errors, and MAGELLIUM, Ramonville Saint-Agne, 31520, France

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