Established in 1985, The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) is an

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO. It first met in Paris at Unesco Headquarters from 19 to 27 October 1961. Initially, 40 States becam ...

program whose purpose is to measure

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

globally for long-term climate change studies. The program's purpose has changed since the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

and the program now collects real time measurements of sea level. The project is currently upgrading the over 290 stations it currently runs, so that they can send real time data via satellite to newly set up national

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

centres. They are also fitting the stations with

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s so they can continue to operate even if the mains power supply is interrupted by severe weather. The Global Sea Level Observing System does not compete with Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis as most GLOSS

transducer A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, measurement, and con ...

s are located close to land masses while DART's transducers are far out in the ocean. "GLOSS provides oversight and coordination for global and regional sea level networks in support of, and with direction from, the oceanographic and climate research communities." The Global Sea Level Observation System utilizes 290 tide gauge stations and watches over 90 countries and territories to have a global coverage. The research that is provided by GLOSS is important for many things including research into sea level change and ocean circulation, coastal protection during events such as storm surges, providing flood warning and monitoring tsunamis, tide tables for port operations, fisherman, and recreation, to define datums for national or state boundaries. GLOSS Core Network The operation and maintenance of the GLOSS Core Network fulfills a range of research and operational requirements for the GLOSS Network. The goal of this network is to be 100% effective. Each gauge that is placed may differ in some aspects, in terms of having its own way of gathering and recording data.

References

External links

Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)

Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)
Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) Meteorological data and networks Oceanography Sea level Environmental data {{Climate-stub