Abstract

The long-term sea level change during 1993 to 2008 was investigated in the Malaysian seas from satellite altimetry data of the TOPEX, JASON-1, ERS-1, ERS-2 and ENVISAT missions. Sea level data retrieval and reduction were carried out using the radar altimeter database system (RADS). In RADS data processing, the 2008 updated environmental and geophysical corrections were applied. Six 1° × 1° areas were chosen for the altimetry data comparison and to find the best ocean tide model for the Malaysian seas, where the altimeter tracks are nearby tide gauge locations. Similarity in the patterns of sea level variations indicates good agreement between tide gauge and altimetry data when using the FES2004 ocean tide model. It also shows that altimetry data is perfectly suited to investigate long-term sea level change in the Malaysian seas. Here, sea level variations for four areas in the Malaysian seas have been investigated using 15 years of altimetry data. The altimeter sea level time series revealed that since 1993, the mean sea level in Malaysian seas has been rising at a geographically-dependent rate varying from 1.4 to 4.1 mm/yr. This kind of information is important for studying environmental issues related to flood investigations and global warming especially for an area that until now have not gotten much attention from the altimeter science community.

Key words: Sea level change, multi-mission altimetry, ocean tides, tide gauges.