PSMSL 80th Anniversary Celebrations

A National Oceanography Centre workshop to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) attracted nearly 120 people to the Victoria Gallery and Museum at Liverpool University.

Professor Ed Hill, Director of the National Oceanography Centre, said “We are delighted that through PSMSL, the National Oceanography Centre continues to bring sea level research to the forefront of climate change studies. A recent Nature Geoscience editorial recognised that long-term records are invaluable and their diversity must be maintained.

“Our PSMSL researchers based at the National Oceanography Centre's Liverpool site continue their leadership in global sea level observations by making contributions in studies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (AR5 IPCC).”

Highlights included three talks by Anny Cazenave (a lead author of the Sea Level Change chapter), Jonathan Gregory (a lead author of the Sea Level Change chapter) and Jonathan Bamber (a review editor of the Observations: Cryosphere chapter) reviewing aspects of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report. Sea level data from the PSMSL are the primary source of information on long-term global mean sea level change and have been used in all five IPCC reports. Sea level experts from the PSMSL, Dr Svetlana Jevrejeva and  Professor Philip Woodworth, contributed to the AR5 IPCC as a Lead Author and a Review Editor.

All of the talks, including video, and many of the presented posters are available from www.psmsl.org/about_us/news/2013/workshop_2013.

The PSMSL workshop preceded the 13th Session of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) Group of Experts held in Liverpool during 30 October- 1 November. GLOSS is an international programme conducted under the auspices of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The presentations and documents associated with that meeting can be found on the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission website http://www.ioc-unesco.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewEventRecord&eventID=1210.

Note to Editors: The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is the UK’s leading institution for integrated coastal and deep ocean research and technology development the coast to the deep ocean. Working with its partners NOC provides long-term marine science capability including: major facilities; sustained ocean observing, mapping and survey; data management, and scientific advice.

NOC works closely with Delivery Partners and a network of associate organisations towards more integrated marine research and the provision of the UK’s national capability in marine science.

NOC operates the Royal Research Ships Discovery and James Cook; the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL), the National Tide and Sea Level Facility (NTSLF); the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC); the National Marine Facility Sea Systems (NMFSS); the National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP) and the National Oceanographic Library (NOL).

NOC’s hosting partners are the University of Southampton – where researchers at the University of Southampton of Ocean and Earth Science engage in collaborative research at the Southampton waterfront campus and the University of Liverpool, where the Joseph Proudman Building is located. NOC is wholly owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).