RECENT SEA LEVEL CHANGES IN THE BLACK SEA FROM SATELLITE GRAVITY AND ALTIMETER MESUREMENTS

Abstract. Sea level rise causes devastating effects on coastal habitats. For example, coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion are major threats for the Black Sea coasts. So, determining sea level changes in the Black Sea is important in terms of coastal risk assessment and coastal planning. In this study, present-day sea level change in the Black Sea is estimated from satellite altimetry and gravity measurements. Altimetry data demonstrate that the Black Sea level has risen at an average rate of 2.5 ± 0.5 mm/year from January 1993 to May 2017. During this period, inter-annual variability of the non-seasonal sea level change is quite strong. Furthermore, mass contribution to this change for the period 2002–2017 has been detected as 2.3 ± 1.0 mm/year from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mascon solutions.