Regional sea level budget over 2004–2022

Abstract. Closure of the regional sea level budget is investigated over the 2004–2022 time span by comparing trend patterns from the satellite altimetry-based sea level with the sum of contributions, i.e. the thermosteric, halosteric, manometric and GRD (Gravitational, Rotational, and Deformational fingerprints due to past and ongoing land ice melt) components. The thermosteric and halosteric components are based on Argo data. For the manometric component, two approaches are considered: one using GRACE/GRACE-Follow On satellite gravimetry data, and the other using ocean reanalyses-based sterodynamic sea level data corrected for local steric effects. For the latter, six different ocean reanalyses are considered, including two reanalyses that do not assimilate satellite altimetry data. The results show significantly high residuals in the North Atlantic for both approaches. In other regions, small-scale residuals of smaller amplitude are observed and attributed to the finer resolution of altimetry data compared to the coarser resolution of data sets used for the components. Focus on the strong residual signal seen in the North Atlantic suggests Argo-based salinity errors in this region. However, it is not excluded that other factors also contribute to the non-closure of the budget in this region.