Workshop Objective

Many atmospheric and oceanographic factors associated with both large-scale and local variability can influence coastal sea level on time scales from hours to decades. Previous studies have pointed out differences between observed sea level behavior at the coast and over adjacent shallow and deep ocean regions. Short spatial structures can arise from coastally trapped waves and currents, localized tidal resonances, bathymetric controls, local atmospheric forcing and other factors, and all of these influences are a function of location and timescale. Identifying these various influences is essential for understanding, simulating, and predicting coastal sea level variability, which remains a key societal concern in the context of a changing climate.

Overall, the purpose of the workshop is:
(i) To review the current understanding of coastal sea level variability, from seasonal to
multi-decadal time scales, to identify key processes causing coastal sea level changes,
and to characterize the spatio-temporal structure of sea level variability across the
coastal zone, and also the relationship between variability and change at the coast and
the large-scale open ocean.
(ii) To review the currently available observing systems informing on sea level changes in coastal areas and identify priority gaps and uncertainties.
(iii) To assess the ability of ocean syntheses in estimating coastal sea level variations on seasonal to multi-decadal time scales and of atmosphere-ocean global coupled models (AOGCMs) in projecting coastal sea level driven by climatic processes. Non-climatic processes will also be addressed, including the possibility to simulate their future evolution.

Last update: September 28, 2018 (Restricted area)