Understandings on global and coastal sea level variations have been greatly advanced in recent decades, thanks to the satellite altimetry data and tidal gauge station records. What remains unclear include the cause of coastal and shelf sea level variations. Local vactors (such as river discharge, wind, tide) and remote factors (e.g., global sea level rise or large-scal ocean circulation) are both important, but their contributions should be quantified and the inherenent dynamics need to be disclosed. Sea level variation in the shelf sea, especially its spatial gradient, is of particular importance, because it indicates the connection between coast and open ocean. It is not only for the sea level change, but also for the along-/corss-shelf exchanges. Here in this talk I will present some preliminary results on the multiscale sea level variations over the East China Sea shelf based on tidal gauge station data and a high-resolution numerical model that covers the China seas and adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean. Of particular focus is to separate the contributions of local and remote factors, and then to link the sea level variations to the climate variabilities. Besides statistical analysis, an arrested topographic wave framework will be used to diagnose the underlying physical mechanisms.
 

coastal and shelf sea level variation, numerical modeling, arrested topographic wave