DETERMINING AND MODELLING SEA LEVEL CHANGE IN THE CARIBBEAN USING SATELLITE ALTIMETRY

摘要

Sea level change is especially significant for small island states, like those in the Caribbean, which are most at risk from the effects of climate change and sea level rise. This is largely due to their environmental and economic dependence on coastal zones. Sea level is not rising uniformly around the world, negating the possible adoption of global models for any particular region. This creates the need to determine localised models to evaluate the magnitude of sea level change at a regional scale. This study seeks to resolve the Caribbean region’s lack of effective sea level monitoring system through satellite altimetry. An analytical comparison between altimetric and tide gauge derived sea level agree with an RMS of 0.058 m. The sea level change rates are on average ± 0.45 mm/yr within the tide gauge results confirming the quality and applicability of satellite altimetry in sea level change determination for the Caribbean.