Satellite Observations of Sea Level and Ocean Circulation

Dear Colleagues,

The satellite era has revolutionized physical oceanography by expanding the ocean observing system to the truly global scale and providing continuous, synoptic monitoring of the ocean’s surface. Particular advances have been achieved thanks to the advent of satellite altimetry and gravimetry missions that have enabled mapping of the global ocean surface topography for studying the spatiotemporal variability of sea level and ocean currents, which are considered ‘essential climate variables’. Technological developments and the build-up of a constellation of altimetry satellites over the last decades have led to significant improvements in measurement accuracy as well as in spatial and temporal resolution. Dedicated reprocessing of radar altimetry waveforms has greatly improved data quality in coastal and polar regions. Space-borne observations have unveiled many aspects of sea level and ocean circulation, such as the mean dynamic topography, the global mean sea level change, large-scale patterns of sea level variability, mesoscale eddies and fronts, propagation of planetary waves, ocean tides, etc. Combining satellite measurements with in situ observations provides a three-dimensional view of the ocean state and how it evolves with time. Satellite data are widely used to constrain ocean general circulation and climate models to facilitate mechanistic understanding of processes driving ocean and climate variability on different temporal and spatial scales.

Papers on all aspects of sea level and ocean circulation that utilize satellite measurements and combine them with in situ observations and ocean models for process-oriented studies are welcome in this Special Issue.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Global mean sea level rise;
• Regional and coastal sea level change;
• Variability of oceanic gyres and regional current systems;
• Regional heat divergence and deep-ocean warming;
• Meridional overturning circulation and how it relates to sea level changes;
• Atmospheric circulation and sea level variability;
• Dynamics of eddies, fronts, and planetary waves.

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Sea level
• Satellite altimetry
• GRACE
• Ocean currents
• Satellite oceanography
• Mesoscale processes
• Ocean heat content
• Meridional overturning circulation
• Coastal processes