Multi-scale Correlation Analysis between Sea Level Anomaly and Climate Index through Wavelet Approach

Sea levels are rising as a result of climate change, and low-lying areas along the coast are at risk of flooding. Therefore, we tried to investigate the relationship between sea level change and climate indices using satellite altimeter data (Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1/2/3) and southern oscillation index (SOI) and the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) data. If time domain data were converted to frequency domain, the original data can be analyzed in terms of the periodic components. Fourier transform and Wavelet transform are representative periodic analysis methods. Fourier transform can provide only the periodic signals, whereas wavelet transform can obtain both the periodic signals and their corresponding time location. The cross-wavelet transformation and the wavelet coherence are ideal for analyzing the common periods, correlation and phase difference for two time domain datasets. Our cross-wavelet transform analysis shows that two climate indices (SOI, PDO) and sea level height was a significant in 1-year period. PDO and sea level height were anti-phase. Also, our wavelet coherence analysis reveals when sea level height and climate indices were correlated in short (less than one year) and long periods, which did not appear in the cross wavelet transform. The two wavelet analyses provide the frequency domains of two different time domain datasets but also characterize the periodic components and relative phase difference. Therefore, our research results demonstrates that the wavelet analyses are useful to analyze the periodic component of climatic data and monitor the various oceanic phenomena that are difficult to find in time series analysis.