Empirical modeling and impact of transient effects on the mean sea level trend estimates from the global tide gauge data

The mean sea level trend estimates from shorter records (less than 50 years) are easily influenced by a number of additional transient effects including atmospheric pressure variations, interannual and decadal changes in the mean sea level or various station dependent disturbances, which are not always accounted for in previous studies because their influences may be negligible for stations longer than 100 years or simply such information may not have been available. In this study, we detected and modeled 8,072 transient changes (a nearly periodic, or non-periodic variation, a shift or an episodic change in the mean sea level that may last several months or longer) from all of the globally distributed 1,862 tide gauge stations with approximately 47,000 years of tide gauge data in the Permanent Service Mean Sea Level repository. It was shown that 1,264 out of 1,862 globally distributed tide gauge station solutions were affected significantly by modeling transient changes in the mean sea level. The solutionsR2 values improved at a 95% confidence level with the inclusion of new empirical model parameters representing transient changes as mean shifts as well as the trend estimates that fall within [-1 to +3] mm/year interval.Department of Land Surveying and Geo-InformaticsTopics in this issue:*Container Throughput and Economic Development-Container Throughput of Ports in Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia From 2002 to 2012*News Highlight-China Rejects P3 Alliance*Insights from Experts-Strengthening Hong Kong's Leading Position as a Logistics Hub: An Exclusive Interview with Prof. Chung-Yee Lee*Special Issues*Special Issue I: Safety in the Cruise and Ferry Industries-A Brief Introduction to Cruise Safety Issues-Safety Indicators and Management–Interview with Prof. Chin-Shan Lu-Cruise Safety–Interview with Dr T.L. Yip-Importance of Safety at Sea Shown Through the Maritime Accident*Special Issue II: Cargo Safety and Cyber-Security-Cargo Theft and Smuggling-Cyber-Security and Maritime Transpor