IMPROVED ESTIMATES OF MEAN SEA LEVEL CHANGES IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN NORTH SEA SINCE 1843

Juergen Jensen, Thomas Wahl, Torsten Frank

Abstract


This contribution focuses on presenting the results from analysing mean sea level changes in the German Bight, the south-eastern part of the North Sea. Data sets from 13 tide gauges covering the entire German North Sea coastline and the period from 1843 to 2008 have been used to estimate high quality mean sea level time series. The overall results from nonlinear smoothing and linear trend estimations for different time spans are presented. Time series from single tide gauges are analysed as well as different ‘virtual station’ time series. An accelerated sea level rise in the German Bight is detected for a period at the end of the 19th century and for another one covering the last decades. In addition, different patterns of sea level change are found in the German Bight compared to global patterns, highlighting the urgent need to derive reliable regional sea level projections to be considered in coastal planning strategies.

Keywords


German Bight; regional sea level changes; tide gauge data; vertical land movements

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