Regional sea level variability in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea

•Significant effects of atmospheric pressure changes on local sea level variability.•Strong annual sea level fluctuations revealed using the CSEOF analysis in the BYECSs.•High correlations between SOI/PDO and sea level on time scales over 8 years.

The regional sea level variability in the Bohai Sea (BS), Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS) is investigated based on tide gauge, satellite altimeter data and an independent oceanic general circulation model for the Earth Simulator (OFES) model outputs. It is found that atmospheric forcing significantly affects local sea level variability in the BS and YS and local sea level variability at the Southern ECS is highly correlated with along-shore currents. Particularly, the annual sea level fluctuations potentially change inundation risk and the frequency and magnitude of flooding in regions with high annual sea level. Hence, the cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function (CSEOF) analysis is carried out to investigate the variations of annual sea level cycle amplitude. Similar spatial distribution characteristics of annual sea level amplitude fluctuations are presented from satellite altimeter data and model outputs. The variability of annual sea level amplitude estimated from the satellite altimeter data agrees well with that from the tide gauge data, and positively (negatively) correlates with Southern Oscillation Index (Pacific Decadal Oscillation). The OFES model, however, underestimates the fluctuation of the annual cycle. After removing the annual signal, the low-passed (i.e., 13-month running mean) tide gauge data shows high correlations with SOI and PDO on time scales over 8 years in the BS and ECS.