Recent Advances in Sea Level Monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

Sea level rise is a critical indicator of climate change, significantly impacting coastal communities, ecosystems, and economies. Accurate, high-resolution, and continuous monitoring of sea level is essential to understand its drivers, predict future trends, and support adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Over the past decade, advances in satellite altimetry, gravity missions (such as GRACE and GRACE-Follow-On), multi-sensor data integration, in situ technologies, and numerical models have revolutionized sea level monitoring. A key scientific development is the ability to distinguish between the mass component of sea level change (from melting ice and shifts in land water storage) and the steric component (due to changes in water density from temperature and salinity). Additionally, atmospheric processes—such as storm surges, pressure loading, wind-driven waves, and freshwater input—play a crucial role in regional sea level variability and extreme events.

This Special Issue of Atmosphere will highlight the latest advances in sea level monitoring, focusing on the integration of altimetry, gravity, and atmospheric data. It aims to showcase innovative research that connects global observations with coastal impacts through interdisciplinary approaches. 

This Special Issue will serve as a platform for presenting cutting-edge research and comprehensive reviews on recent technological, methodological, and scientific progress in sea level science. Specific goals include the following:

• Presenting new techniques in satellite altimetry and gravimetry and their applications.
• Examining the causes of global and regional sea level rise, including mass and steric components.
• Quantifying contributions from glaciers, ice sheets, and land hydrology to sea level change.
• Investigating the role of atmospheric processes in regional sea level variability and extremes.
• Improving the integration of diverse data—such as altimetry, gravity, and in situ measurements—into models to enhance predictions.
• Addressing challenges in monitoring coastal and polar sea levels and translating data into insights on coastal vulnerability.

Dr. Fengwei Wang
Prof. Dr. Shijian Zhou
Dr. Tengfei Feng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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