InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Section 2: Introduction to Coastal Zone Hazards: Long and Short-term Processes of Change and Their Impacts on Society > Module 4: Understanding Sea Level Change > Measuring Sea Level
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
showLearn More
These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »
show Download
The student materials are available for offline viewing below. Downloadable versions of the instructor materials are available from this location on the instructor materials pages. Learn more about using the different versions of InTeGrate materials »

Download a PDF of all web pages for the student materials

Download a zip file that includes all the web pages and downloadable files from the student materials

For the Instructor

These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: December 7, 2016

Measuring Sea Level

How is sea level measured?

Tide Gauges

Sea level is often measured locally by tide gauges (and averaged over tidal cycles) that detect high and low points in a given period of time. Local tide gauges are especially useful for people who work or recreate in coastal areas and need to know what the water level ranges will be. These data points are also important for detecting water levels during storms and other events as well as in long-term investigation of relative water level change (rise or fall). Tide levels are also measured by floating buoys, as well - which are being used to detect Tsunami waves.

Later on in this module, we will be working with individual tide gauge records for more insight, but geoscientists often work to integrate data collected by individual tide gauge stations with other sites over large areas in order to look at trends that are distinct from the tides. For more information on this, feel free to look at the NOAA Ocean Climate Observation Program link: http://www.oco.noaa.gov/tideGauges.html

Satellite

Sea level can also be measured by satellite. These measurements utilize multi-beam methods that are very precise and can measure changes in elevations of the earth's surface. These methods have shown that water bodies are not flat, but are incredibly dynamic and have high and low spots due to geography, and other factors.

NODC (National Oceanographic Data Center) Jason-2 Satellite is one of several missions designed to investigate the surface of the ocean including wave heights, sea level rise, and other phenomena. http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/SatelliteData/Jason2/


These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »