Project description
Testing the waters with sub-hourly sea level fluctuations
The rise of sea level caused by climate change represents a major challenge for our society. The mean sea level (MSL) is estimated to rise up to 60 cm worldwide by the end of our century. As a result, flood risks related to extreme sea levels (ESLs) will multiply, causing extreme situations along many coastlines around the world. These can result in significant human tolls and economic losses. The EU-funded SHExtreme project will study for the first time the role sub-hourly sea level fluctuations play in ESLs. By applying high-resolution sea-level data, it will attempt the first inclusive estimation of intensity, frequency and temporal and spatial distribution of existing and future sub-hourly ESLs along European coasts.
Objective
Coping with a sea level rise, induced by climate change processes, is one of the most important challenges of modern society. It has been projected that, by the end of the 21st century, mean sea level (MSL) will rise between 40 and 60 cm worldwide. Higher MSLs imply that flood risks associated to extreme sea levels (ESLs) will also increase, with the 100-year return levels of extreme events along European coasts projected to increase between 50 and 90 cm by the 2100. ESLs occur due to a superposition of numerous oceanic phenomena which act over different temporal (from seconds to millennia) and spatial scales (from bays to oceans). Within SHExtreme project, for the first time, contribution of under-researched sub-hourly sea level oscillations to the ESLs along the European coast will be extensively studied. High resolution 1-min sea level data measured at more than 100 tide gauge stations, as well as reanalysis, hindcast and future climate simulations, will be analyzed to achieve project goals: (i) assessing present day distribution of sub-hourly sea level oscillations and estimating their contribution to the overall ESLs; (ii) linking sub-hourly ESLs to governing atmospheric conditions; (iii) estimating future strength and distribution of sub-hourly ESLs. Project SHExtremes will result with the first comprehensive estimate of intensity, frequency, and spatial and temporal distribution of present and future-day sub-hourly ESLs along the European coasts.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
21000 SPLIT
Croatia