Information on sea-level fluctuations is crucial for a full understanding of upper-ocean processes in light of recent global climate shifts. There is a severe shortage of data on sea-level fluctuations in the Red Sea, particularly data on interannual variability, long-term trends, and related dynamics. By examining satellite altimetry sea-level data over nearly three decades (1993-2020), the current study tried to close this gap and is utilised to comprehend the variability and associated dynamics in the Red Sea sea-level. The sea level normally rises in the winter, reaching its peak in December or January, and falls in the summer, reaching its lowest point in August, in a consistent pattern moving from south to north. The fluctuation of global climate modes, such as the East Atlantic-West Russian oscillation and El Nio Southern Oscillation occurrences, interannual changes in sea level and the Indian Ocean Dipole are strongly connected. Compared to other climatic trends, the El-Nino Southern Oscillation has a bigger effect on sea level. The rate of sea level rise in the Red Sea from 1993 to the present was 3.88 mm/year, which was comparable to the global rate of 3.3 0.5 mm/year. The Red Sea saw a much faster rate of sea level rise (6.40 mm/year) from 2000 to the present.

Author(s) Details:

Cheriyeri Poyil Abdulla,
Department of Marine Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 80200, Saudi Arabia and  Department of Physical Oceanography, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, 682016, India.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/CAGEES-V5/article/view/7528

Keywords: Red Sea, satellite altimetry, sea level anomaly, long-term linear trend, ENSO, IOD, NAO.