Sea Level Measurement

07/30/20

“How can we measure the sea level?”

 

Monitoring the Earth’s sea level is important for understanding how climate change is proceeding. But how exactly does this happen? Well, we know that we can measure the distance of terrestrial objects from space using radar. And we also know that the sea level is simply how far away it is from the center of the Earth. So what if we were to use a satellite rotating around the Earth that sends out signals measuring the distance to the center and the surface and subtracts the difference? Well, it turns out that this is exactly how Sea Level Measurement works and is the basis of understanding the ocean’s position in the world.