Search

The height of the mean sea surface above the reference ellipsoid is a time independent reference model that can be removed from radar altimeter measurements to isolate the oceanographic signals.  This document explains how the CLS mean sea surface model is updated at short wavelengths using the 30-years of sea surface slope measurements that have been archived and computed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  The data are available at https://topex.ucsd.edu/pub/ .

AbstractSea surface slope (SSS) responds to oceanic processes and other environmental parameters. This study aims to identify the parameters that influence SSS variability. We use SSS calculated from multiyear satellite altimeter observations and focus on small resolvable scales in the 30–100-km wavelength band. First, we revisit the correlation of mesoscale ocean variability with seafloor roughness as a function of depth, as proposed by Gille et al. Our results confirm that in shallow water there is statistically significant positive correlation between rough bathymetry and surface variability, whereas the opposite is true in the deep ocean. In the next step, we assemble 27 features as input variables to fit the SSS with a linear regression model and a boosted trees regression model, and then we make predictions. Model performance metrics for the linear regression model are R2 = 0.381 and mean square error = 0.010 μrad2. For the boosted trees model, R2 = 0.563 and mean square error = 0.007 μrad2. Using the hold-out data, we identify the most important influencing factors to be the distance to the nearest thermocline boundary, significant wave height, mean dynamic topography gradient, and M2 tidal speed. However, there are individual regions, that is, the Amazon outflow, that cannot be predicted by our model, suggesting that these regions are governed by processes that are not represented in our input features. The results highlight both the value of machine learning and its shortcomings in identifying mechanisms governing oceanic phenomena.

SUMMARY The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2) laser altimetry mission, launched in September 2018, uses six parallel lidar tracks with very fine along-track resolution (15 m) to measure the topography of ice, land and ocean surfaces. Here we assess the ability of ICESat-2 ocean data to recover oceanographic signals ranging from surface gravity waves to the marine geoid. We focus on a region in the tropical Pacific and study photon height data in both the wavenumber and space domain. Results show that an ICESat-2 single track can recover the marine geoid at wavelengths >20 km which is similar to the best radar altimeter data. The wavelength and propagation direction of surface gravity waves are sometimes well resolved by using a combination of the strong and weak beams, which are separated by 90 m. We find higher than expected power in the 3–20 km wavelength band where geoid and ocean signals should be small. This artificial power is caused by the projection of 2-D surface waves with ∼300 m wavelengths into longer wavelengths (5–10 km) because of the 1-D sampling along the narrow ICESat-2 profile. Thus ICESat-2 will not provide major improvements to the geoid recovery in most of the ocean.

Our understanding of plate boundary deformation has been enhanced by transient signals observed against the backdrop of time-independent secular motions. We make use of a new analysis of displacement time series from about 1,000 continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) stations in California from 1999 to 2018 to distinguish tectonic and nontectonic transients from secular motion. A primary objective is to define a high-resolution three-dimensional reference frame (datum) for California that can be rapidly maintained with geodetic data to accommodate both secular and time-dependent motions. To this end, we compare the displacements to those predicted by a horizontal secular fault slip model for the region and construct displacement and strain rate fields. Over the past 19 years, California has experienced 19 geodetically detectable earthquakes and widespread postseismic deformation. We observe postseismic strain rate variations as large as 1,000 nstrain/year with moment releases equivalent up to an Mw6.8 earthquake. We find significant secular differences up to 10 mm/year with the fault slip model, from the Mendocino Triple Junction to the southern Cascadia subduction zone, the northern Basin and Range, and the Santa Barbara channel. Secular vertical uplift is observed across the Transverse Ranges, Coastal Ranges, Sierra Nevada, as well as large-scale postseismic uplift after the 1999 Mw7.1 Hector Mine and 2010 Mw7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquakes. We also identify areas of vertical land motions due to anthropogenic, natural, and magmatic processes. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of the kinematic datum by improving the accuracy of high-spatial-resolution 12-day repeat-cycle Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar displacement and velocity maps.

The pace of scientific discovery is being transformed by the availability of 'big data' and open access, open source software tools. These innovations open up new avenues for how scientists communicate and share data and ideas with each other and with the general public. Here, we describe our efforts to bring to life our studies of the Earth system, both at present day and through deep geological time. The GPlates Portal (portal.gplates.org) is a gateway to a series of virtual globes based on the Cesium Javascript library. The portal allows fast interactive visualization of global geophysical and geological data sets, draped over digital terrain models. The globes use WebGL for hardware-accelerated graphics and are cross-platform and cross-browser compatible with complete camera control. The globes include a visualization of a high-resolution global digital elevation model and the vertical gradient of the global gravity field, highlighting small-scale seafloor fabric such as abyssal hills, fracture zones and seamounts in unprecedented detail. The portal also features globes portraying seafloor geology and a global data set of marine magnetic anomaly identifications. The portal is specifically designed to visualize models of the Earth through geological time. These space-time globes include tectonic reconstructions of the Earth's gravity and magnetic fields, and several models of long-wavelength surface dynamic topography through time, including the interactive plotting of vertical motion histories at selected locations. The globes put the on-the-fly visualization of massive data sets at the fingertips of end-users to stimulate teaching and learning and novel avenues of inquiry.

The Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah (EMC) earthquake ruptured a complex fault system in northern Baja California that was previously considered inactive. The Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF), site of the world's second largest geothermal power plant, is located approximately 15 km to the northeast of the EMC hypocenter. We investigate whether anthropogenic fluid extraction at the CPGF caused a significant perturbation to the stress field in the EMC rupture zone. We use Advanced Land Observing Satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar data to develop a laterally heterogeneous model of fluid extraction at the CPGF and estimate that this extraction generates positive Coulomb stressing rates of order 15 kPa/yr near the EMC hypocenter, a value which exceeds the local tectonic stressing rate. Although we cannot definitively conclude that production at the CPGF triggered the EMC earthquake, its influence on the local stress field is substantial and should not be neglected in local seismic hazard assessments. Key Points Geothermal energy production causes surface subsidence and crustal stressingProduction at CPGF generates positive Coulomb stresses in EMC rupture zoneAnthropogenic stresses exceed the tectonic loading rate at EMC hypocenter

Author(s): Dan Bassett (corresponding author) [1]; David T. Sandwell [1]; Yuri Fialko [1]; Anthony B. Watts [2] The March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake was only the second giant (moment magnitude M [...]

We assess the spatial resolution and phase noise of interferograms made from L-band Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) data and compare these results with corresponding C-band measurements from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS). Based on cross-spectral analysis of phase gradients, we find that the spatial resolution of ALOS interferograms is 1.3x better than ERS interferograms. The phase noise of ALOS (i.e., line-of-sight precision in the 100-5000-m wavelength band) is 1.6x worse than ERS (3.3 mm versus 2.1 mm). In both cases, the largest source of error is tropospheric phase delay. Vector deformation maps associated with the June 17, 2007 (Father's day) intrusion along the east rift zone of the Kilauea Volcano were recovered using just four ALOS SAR images from two look directions. Comparisons with deformation vectors from 19 continuous GPS sites show rms line-of-site precision of 14 mm and rms azimuth precision (flight direction) of 71 mm. This azimuth precision is at least 4x better than the corresponding measurements made at C-band. Phase coherence is high even in heavily vegetated areas in agreement with previous results. This improved coherence combined with similar or better accuracy and resolution suggests that L-band ALOS will outperform C-band ERS in the recovery of slow crustal deformation. Index Terms--Crustal deformation, phase noise, radar interferometry, synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

Geodetic slip inversions for three major (Mw > 7) strike-slip earthquakes (1992 Landers, 1999 Hector Mine and 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah) show a 15-60 per cent reduction in slip near the surface (depth<2 km) relative to the slip at deeper depths (4-6 km). This significant difference between surface coseismic slip and slip at depth has been termed the shallow slip deficit (SSD). The large magnitude of this deficit has been an enigma since it cannot be explained by shallow creep during the interseismic period or by triggered slip from nearby earthquakes. One potential explanation for the SSD is that the previous geodetic inversions lack data coverage close to surface rupture such that the shallow portions of the slip models are poorly resolved and generally underestimated. In this study, we improve the static coseismic slip inversion for these three earthquakes, especially at shallow depths, by: (1) including data capturing the near-fault deformation from optical imagery and SAR azimuth offsets; (2) refining the interferometric synthetic aperture radar processing with non-boxcar phase filtering, modeldependent range corrections, more complete phase unwrapping by SNAPHU (Statistical Nonlinear Approach for Phase Unwrapping) assuming a maximum discontinuity and an onfault correlation mask; (3) using more detailed, geologically constrained fault geometries and (4) incorporating additional campaign global positioning system (GPS) data. The refined slip models result in much smaller SSDs of 3-19 per cent. We suspect that the remaining minor SSD for these earthquakes likely reflects a combination of our elastic model's inability to fully account for near-surface deformation, which will render our estimates of shallow slip minima, and potentially small amounts of interseismic fault creep or triggered slip, which could 'make up' a small percentages of the coseismic SSD during the interseismic period. Our results indicate that it is imperative that slip inversions include accurate measurements of near-fault surface deformation to reliably constrain spatial patterns of slip during major strike-slip earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moment accumulation rate (also referred to as moment deficit rate) is a fundamental quantity for evaluating seismic hazard. The conventional approach for evaluating moment accumulation rate of creeping faults is to invert for the slip distribution from geodetic measurements, although even with perfect data these slip-rate inversions are non-unique. In this study, we show that the slip-rate versus depth inversion is not needed because moment accumulation rate can be estimated directly from surface geodetic data. We propose an integral approach that uses dense geodetic observations from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to constrain the moment accumulation rate. The moment accumulation rate is related to the integral of the product of the along-strike velocity and the distance from the fault. We demonstrate our methods by studying the Creeping Section of the San Andreas fault observed by GPS and radar interferometry onboard the ERS and ALOS satellites. Along-strike variation of the moment accumulation rate is derived in order to investigate the degree of partial locking of the Creeping Section. The central Creeping Segment has a moment accumulation rate of 0.25-3.1 × 1015 Nm yr-1 km-1. The upper and lower bounds of the moment accumulation rates are derived based on the statistics of the noise. Our best-fitting model indicates that the central portion of the Creeping Section is accumulating seismic moment at rates that are about 5 per cent to 23 per cent of the fully locked Carrizo segment that will eventually be released seismically. A cumulative moment budget calculation with the historical earthquake catalogue (M > 5.5) since 1857 shows that the net moment deficit at present is equivalent to a Mw 6.3 earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin plate flexure theory provides an accurate model for the response of the lithosphere to vertical loads on horizontal length scales ranging from tens to hundreds of kilometres. Examples include flexure at seamounts, fracture zones, sedimentary basins and subduction zones. When applying this theory to real world situations, most studies assume a locally uniform plate thickness to enable simple Fourier transform solutions. However, in cases where the amplitude of the flexure is prominent, such as subduction zones, or there are rapid variations in seafloor age, such as fracture zones, these models are inadequate. Here we present a computationally efficient algorithm for solving the thin plate flexure equation for non-uniform plate thickness and arbitrary vertical load. The iterative scheme takes advantage of the 2-D fast Fourier transform to perform calculations in both the spatial and spectral domains, resulting in an accurate and computationally efficient solution.We illustrate the accuracy of the method through comparisons with known analytic solutions. Finally, we present results from three simple models demonstrating the differences in trench outer rise flexure when 2-D variations in plate rigidity and applied bending moment are taken into account. Although we focus our analysis on ocean trench flexure, the method is applicable to other 2-D flexure problems having spatial rigidity variations such as seamount loading of a thermally eroded lithosphere or flexure across the continental-oceanic crust boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]