Global Sea Level Budget Assessment from Satellite Altimetry, 1993-Present

A synthesis of global mean sea level and its components, assessed by an international consortium of scientists. The data includes an altimetry-based average rate of 3.1 +/- 0.3 mm/yr and acceleration of 0.1 mm/yr² from 1993 onward, with contributions quantified from ocean thermal expansion, glaciers, and ice sheets. This assessment was performed in 2017-2018 under the World Climate Research Programme.

Use Cases

• Modeling global sea level rise based on quantified contributions from thermal expansion, glaciers, and ice sheets.
• Assessing uncertainty in climate projections based on the identified substantial uncertainty in land water storage components.
• Validating satellite altimetry and GRACE-based ocean mass estimates by examining budget closure.
• Detecting acceleration trends in sea level rise based on the reported temporal evolution data.

Strengths

• Data is based on a broad range of space-based and in situ observations, model estimates, and algorithms.
• Results are synthesized from an international effort involving several tens of scientists from about sixty research teams.
• Provides specific quantified rates (3.1 mm/yr) and acceleration (0.1 mm/yr²) with stated uncertainties.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

World Climate Research Programme, international sea level community.

Collection Method

Combination of satellite altimetry, GRACE data, and other space-based and in situ observations.

Time Range

1993 to present, with specific analysis for 2005-present.

Geography

Global