sea level rise estimation and interpretation in malaysian region using multi-sensor techniques ami

68 Pages·2014·1.99 MB·English

SEA LEVEL RISE ESTIMATION AND INTERPRETATION IN MALAYSIAN
REGION USING MULTI-SENSOR TECHNIQUES

AMI HASSAN MD DIN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
SEA LEVEL RISE ESTIMATION AND INTERPRETATION IN MALAYSIAN
REGION USING MULTI-SENSOR TECHNIQUES

AMI HASSAN MD DIN

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (Geomatic Engineering)

Faculty of Geoinformation and Real Estate
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

SEPTEMBER 2014
iii

DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my beloved Mother, Wife, Children
and in memory of my late Father
iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praises to Allah, the Lord of the Universe. May the peace and blessings
of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, His last messenger.

Special thanks goes to my mentors, Prof. Dr. Sahrum Ses and Assoc. Prof.
Kamaludin Mohd Omar for their tireless advice, constructive comments, great
support and friendship during this long journey in completing my study. Working
with them has improved my skills enormously. This work was possible through the
financial aid from the Skim Latihan Akademik Bumiputera (SLAB), UTM.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to Assistant Prof. Marc Naeije (Delft
University of Technology) for guiding me in the altimeter field and willing to spend
his precious time answering even trivial questions posed by me. Thanks also to Prof.
Dr. Andy Hooper and Dr. Miguel Caro Cuenca (Delft University of Technology) for
introducing me to PS InSAR, particularly to the concept, algorithm and software.

I also very much appreciate Mr Soeb Nordin (DSMM Staff), Dr Mohd
Effendi Daud (UTHM) and Mr Jhonny for their valuable discussions,
recommendations and support in understanding Bernese processing during the early
stages of my study.

I am deeply indebted to Mr Jespal Singh Gill for his assistance in proof
reading this thesis. I am also grateful to my colleagues, especially Mr Mohamad
Asrul Mustafar (UiTM), Mr Mohd Faiz Pa’suya, Mr Wan Aminullah Abdul Aziz and
all friends in GNSS and Geodynamics Research Group, UTM who have provided
assistance in various occassions. Unfortunately, it is not possible to list all of them in
this limited space.

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to My Late Father, Mother,
Brothers and Sisters for their love, prayers and constant support. I also express my
deepest appreciation for my family-in-law.

As for the utmost appreciation and gratitude, I would like to thank my lovely
wife, Nadia Hartini Mohd Adzmi for her understanding, support and love during the
past few years. To my daughter, Arina and my sons, Ahnaf and Afifi, with all their
love they make me very happy. They are a major driving force and a great source of
inspiration for completing my study. I am utterly grateful to them.
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ABSTRACT

Rise in sea level is one of the disastrous effects of climate change. A
relatively small increase in sea level could affect the natural coastal system. This
study presents an approach to estimate before interpreting the precise sea level trend
based on a combination of multi-sensor techniques in the Malaysian region over a
period of 19 years. In the study, six altimeter missions were used to derive the
absolute sea levels which were processed in the Radar Altimeter Database System.
Next, 21 tide gauge stations along the coastlines of Malaysia were utilised to derive
the rate of relative sea levels that took into account sea level changes and vertical
land motions. To obtain absolute sea level at tide gauge, vertical land motions at
these stations were removed by employing three techniques, namely GPS, Persistent
Scatterers Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and altimeter minus tide gauge.
Bernese software with double difference strategy was employed to process data
from 87 local and 30 international GPS stations. Using Persistent Scatterers
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, the Stanford Method for Persistent
Scatterer software processed 111 images. Besides that, the satellite altimeter and
tide gauges were used to retrieve the differential rates estimated by altimetry and
tidal data to obtain the rate of vertical land motion. Following that, absolute sea
level rates from the tide gauge stations and multi-satellite altimeter missions were
combined. This combination produced the regional sea level trend of the Malaysian
seas. The findings from the multi-sensor techniques showed that the regional sea
level trend has been rising at a rate of 2.65 ± 0.86 mm/yr to 6.03 ± 0.79 mm/yr for
the chosen sub-areas, with an overall mean of 4.47 ± 0.71 mm/yr. Upon completion
of the study, a Sea Level Information System for the Malaysian seas was developed
to facilitate users in analysing, manipulating and interpreting sea level and vertical
land motion data. This system is expected to be valuable for a wide variety of
climatic applications to study environmental issues related to flood and global
warming in Malaysia
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ABSTRAK

Kenaikan paras laut adalah salah satu kesan buruk perubahan iklim.
Peningkatan kecil dalam paras laut boleh menjejaskan sistem semula jadi pantai.
Kajian ini membentangkan satu pendekatan untuk menganggarkan sebelum
mentafsir trend paras laut tepat berdasarkan kombinasi teknik multi-sensor di rantau
Malaysia dalam tempoh 19 tahun. Dalam kajian, enam misi altimeter telah digunakan
untuk memperolehi paras laut mutlak yang telah diproses dalam Sistem Pangkalan
Data Altimeter Radar. Seterusnya, 21 stesen tolok pasang surut di sepanjang garis
pantai Malaysia telah digunakan untuk mendapatkan kadar paras laut relatif yang
mengambil kira perubahan paras laut dan pergerakan tanah menegak. Untuk
mendapatkan paras laut mutlak pada tolok pasang surut, pergerakan tanah menegak
di stesen-stesen ini telah dikeluarkan dengan menggunakan tiga teknik, iaitu GPS,
Radar Aperture Sintetik Interferometri Sebaran Berterusan dan altimeter tolak tolok
pasang surut. Perisian Bernese dengan strategi perbezaan ganda dua telah digunakan
untuk memproses data daripada 87 stesen tempatan dan 30 stesen GPS antarabangsa.
Menggunakan Radar Aperture Sintetik Interferometri Sebaran Berterusan, perisian
Kaedah Stanford untuk Sebaran Berterusan telah memproses 111 imej. Di samping
itu, altimeter satelit dan tolok pasang surut telah digunakan untuk memperolehi kadar
perbezaan anggaran dengan data altimeter dan tolok pasang surut untuk mendapatkan
kadar pergerakan tanah menegak. Berikutan itu, kadar paras laut mutlak dari stesen
tolok pasang surut dan misi altimeter multi-satelit telah digabungkan. Gabungan ini
telah menghasilkan trend paras laut serantau di laut Malaysia. Penemuan daripada
teknik multi-sensor menunjukkan trend paras laut serantau telah meningkat pada
kadar 2.65 ± 0.86 mm/tahun kepada 6.03 ± 0.79 mm/tahun untuk sub-kawasan yang
dipilih, dengan min keseluruhan 4.47 ± 0.71 mm/tahun. Dalam menyelesaikan kajian,
Sistem Maklumat Paras Laut untuk laut Malaysia telah dibangunkan bagi
membolehkan pengguna menganalisis, memanipulasi dan mentafsirkan data paras
laut dan pergerakan tanah menegak. Sistem ini dijangka berharga untuk pelbagai
aplikasi iklim untuk mengkaji isu-isu alam sekitar yang berkaitan dengan banjir dan
pemanasan global di Malaysia.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE NUMBER

DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES xiv
LIST OF FIGURES xvii
LIST OF SYMBOLS xxviii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xxxi
LIST OF APPENDICES xxxv

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Research Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Research Objectives 6
1.4 Research Scope 6
1.5 Contribution of the Research 11
1.6 Research Methodology 12
1.7 Outline of the Thesis 17

2 SEA LEVEL CHANGES 19
2.1 Introduction 19
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2.2 Sea Level Changes Associated with Climate
Change 19
2.3 Processes Contributing to Sea Level Changes 21
2.4 The Scientific Evidence of Holocene Sea Level
Rise: Present and Future Projection 22
2.4.1 Holocene Sea Level Rise 23
2.4.2 Present and Future Projection of Sea
Level Rise 25
2.5 Sea Level Rise Studies in Malaysia and its
Neighbouring Countries 27
2.6 Measuring Sea Level Changes from Multi-sensors 30
2.6.1 Vertical Datum References 33
2.7 Summary 34

3 SEA LEVEL QUANTIFICATION FROM
SATELLITE ALTIMETER AND TIDE GAUGE 36
3.1 Introduction 36
3.2 Satellite Altimeter 37
3.2.1 Principle of Satellite Altimeter 39
3.2.2 Orbit Determination 43
3.2.2.1 Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) 44
3.2.2.2 Doppler Orbitography and
Radiopositioning Integrated by
Satellite (DORIS) 45
3.2.2.3 The Precise Range and Range-Rate
Equipment (PRARE) 46
3.2.2.4 Global Positioning System (GPS) 47
3.2.2.5 Altimeter 47
3.2.3 Multi-mission Satellite Altimeter 47
3.2.4 Crossover Adjustment for Multi-mission
Altimeter 49
3.3 Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS)
Framework 51
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3.4 RADS Processing Strategy for Determination of
Sea Level Anomaly 54
3.5 Range and Geophysical Corrections: Best for
Malaysian Case 59
3.5.1 Dry Troposphere Correction 60
3.5.2 Wet Troposphere Correction 63
3.5.3 Ionosphere Correction 64
3.5.4 Sea-state Bias Correction 70
3.5.5 Ocean Tides Correction 74
3.5.6 Dynamic Atmosphere Correction 76
3.5.7 Mean Sea Surface 78
3.6 Tide Gauge 80
3.6.1 Sea Level Anomaly Determination from
Tidal Data 83
3.7 Long-term Time Series Analysis of Sea Level
and Vertical Land Motion using Robust Fit
Technique 86
3.8 Data Verification: Altimeter versus Tide Gauge 87
3.9 Summary 96

4 VERTICAL LAND DISPLACEMENT
QUANTIFICATION FROM GLOBAL
POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) 98
4.1 Introduction 98
4.2 The Global Positioning System (GPS) 98
4.2.1 Reference Systems 99
4.2.1.1 The International Terrestrial
Reference Frame (ITRF) 100
4.2.2 GPS Errors for Vertical Positioning 101
4.2.2.1 Plate Tectonic Motion 102
4.2.2.2 Ocean Tide Loading 102
4.2.2.3 Solid Earth Tides 103
4.2.2.4 Pole Tides 104
x
4.2.2.5 Atmospheric Loading 105
4.2.2.6 Antenna Phase Center Variation 105
4.3 Continuously Operating Reference Stations
(CORS) Network 106
4.3.1 Global CORS Network 106
4.3.2 CORS Networks in Malaysia 108
4.3.2.1 Malaysia Active GPS System
(MASS) Network 109
4.3.2.2 Malaysia Real Time Kinematic
GNSS Network (MyRTKnet) 110
4.4 High-Precision Bernese Framework 111
4.4.1 Bernese Directory Structure 113
4.5 Bernese Processing Strategy for Determination
of Vertical Land Motion 114
4.5.1 The GPS Data Utilised 115
4.5.2 Processing Strategy 120
4.6 GPS Data Quality Control and Sample of GPS
Processing Results 124
4.7 Summary 129

5 VERTICAL LAND DISPLACEMENT
QUANTIFICATION FROM PERSISTENT
SCATTERER INSAR 131
5.1 Introduction 131
5.2 Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar
(InSAR) 131
5.2.1 Radar 132
5.2.2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) 135
5.2.3 SAR Interferometry Principle 137
5.2.4 Interferometric Phase Component 141
5.2.4.1 Deformation Phase 142
5.2.4.2 Topography Phase 142
5.2.4.3 Atmospheric Phase 144