RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sea Level Forecasts

While global sea-level rise concerns many Pacific Island communities, local sea levels are affected by many factors, including basin-wide phenomena like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), making for higher or even lower water levels. This online tool provides an outlook of monthly sea level anomalies for the next one to two seasons (out to six months), combining sea level forecasts with astronomical tide predictions to provide more accurate predictions of coastal water level compared to tide predictions alone. Such forecasts may enable decision makers and local resource managers to prepare for unusual water levels, both high and low, in their areas.

Waves splash against a railed cement wall that bears a "Caution: Sidewalk closed" sign.
High surf, made more extreme with rising sea level, can cause increasing damage to infrastructure and ecosystems. (MWalton, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant)
PROJECT DETAILS

TYPE:

Tool/App

PEOPLE:

Matthew Widlansky
UH Sea Level Center, UH Mānoa
Axel Timmermann
International Pacific Research Center, UH Mānoa
Phil Thompson
UH Sea Level Center, UH Mānoa