Monthly Maps of Sea Level Anomalies in the Pacific 1975-1981

Abstract : Sea level data obtained on islands in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean are used to compile maps of the sea level anomaly for each month of the period January 1975 to December 1981. The maps reveal the large horizontal coherence of sea level anomalies with space scales of several thousand kilometers. Coherence scales are larger in the east-west than in the north-south direction. The anomalies are also coherent over many months indicating a dominance of low-frequency variations.