Re-evaluating 20th Century sea level rise and the tide gauge record (NERC GW4 DTP Projects 2018-19)

The aim of this project is to produce a consistent, rigorous sea level record for the 20th and first two decades of the 21st Century from a combination of tide gauge data, satellite altimetry, ocean model output and statistical inference techniques that can combine the different data sets and account for their different accuracies and spatial and temporal properties. To achieve this we will use a Bayesian inference approach, which will allow us to combine prior knowledge about how the oceans behave with observations to produce a probabilistic estimate for SLR and, equally importantly, reliable uncertainties for those estimates. The tide gauge data do not just measure, SLR, however and may be affected by local vertical land motion due to tectonics or human-induced effects such as water extraction or impoundment. They require careful handling and good understanding of their reliability and quality. We will be working jointly with the National Oceanography Centre Liverpool, who maintain the tide gauge archive and are the leading experts on them. The project also involves experts in satellite altimetry and statistical inference. The student will be working with world class scientists in all these aspects of the problem.