Near-real-time Sea Level Anomalies

This image shows the variation of Sea Level Anomalies on a global scale. Duacs, the Ssalto multimission altimeter data processing system, creates maps every Wednesday and Saturday.

Sea Level Anomalies are departures of the sea surface from some long term mean.

Positive anomalies indicate more heat content (warmer waters, a deeper thermocline) whereas negative anomalies indicate less heat content (cooler waters, a shallower thermocline).

Generally, sea level is higher than average in the northern hemisphere in July and August when waters are warmed by more direct solar radiation and is lower than average in February and March when the incoming solar flux reduces.

These sea level anomalies maps derive from a combination of data coming from altimeters on-bord Jason-1 and Envisat. Combining data from several satellites gives a better space/time resolution, thus enabling a better mesoscale circulation observation. More information can be found at Aviso.

Source: CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales); CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites).

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry