Calibration of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason Altimeter Data to Construct a Continuous Record of Mean Sea Level Change

Jason, the successor to the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) mission, has been designed to continue seamlessly the decade-long altimetric sea level record initiated by T/P. Intersatellite calibration has determined the relative bias to an accuracy of 1.6 mm rms. Tide gauge calibration of the T/P record during its original mission shows a drift of -0.1 ± 0.4 mm/year. The tide gauge calibration of 20 months of nominal Jason data indicates a drift of -5.7 ± 1.0 mm/year, which may be attributable to errors in the orbit ephemeris and the Jason Microwave Radiometer. The analysis of T/P and Jason altimeter data over the past decade has resulted in a determination of global mean sea level change of +2.8 ± 0.4 mm/year.     

On the joint estimation of model and satellite sea surface height anomaly errors

We describe a technique to estimate the error field in the sea surface height (SSH) anomaly field of an ocean model through the joint use of SSH anomaly fields measured from two satellites, Topex/Poseidon (T/P) and ERS-2. The joint error maps for the model, T/P and ERS-2 show distributions distinctly different from one another and globally inhomogeneous. Both sampling errors and instrument errors are represented in the mapped fields. Additionally, we compare the joint error estimation method to a technique using the model and only one satellite, and show the importance of the cross covariance between the measured SSH and the true SSH field in the estimation of the error field. Finally, we look at the distribution of the error versus the variance of the SSH at a location. This logged distribution suggests that the model errors are generally proportional to the model's variance (regression coefficient of 0.99, globally) while the satellites' errors do not exhibit this linear relationship (regression coefficients on the average of 0.60). The comparison of the two satellite distributions implies that ERS-2 has a lower sampling error than the T/P instrument except in the tropical region.     

TOPEX/Poseidon-Jason Comparison and Combination off Nova Scotia

Sea level observations from the tandem TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and Jason-1 altimetry missions (2002-2003) are used to study characteristics of sea level and surface currents over the Scotian Shelf and Slope off Nova Scotia. The consistency and error characteristics of T/P and Jason-1 measurements are examined not only in terms of sea level and cross-track current anomalies but also with respect to current anomalies at crossovers, kinematic properties associated with Gulf Stream warm core rings (WCR), and the shelf-edge current transport. Nominal absolute currents are constructed by adding the altimetric geostrophic current anomalies to an annual-mean model circulation field. The concurrent frontal analysis data are analyzed for occurrence of the WCRs and associated kinematic properties are derived from altimetric current anomalies. The comparison of the sea level and cross-track current anomalies from January to July 2002 shows overall good agreement between T/P and Jason, with correlation coefficients different from zero at the 5% significance level at essentially all locations for sea level and at most locations for currents. The cross-track geostrophic current anomalies from January to July 2002 and from September 2002 to December 2003 are further used to calculate the root-mean-square (rms) current magnitude, and the normalized relative vorticity associated with WCRs. The altimetric currents are consistent with each other and complementary to frontal analysis data in deriving the properties of the WCRs. The rms current magnitude is ∼55 cm/s and the normalized relative vorticity is ∼0.15. The model-altimetry combined absolute currents are used to estimate near-surface transport associated with the shelf-edge current, showing good correlation between T/P and Jason estimates and strong seasonal changes. The current anomalies derived from altimetry and moored measurements are significantly (at the 5% significance level) correlated and comparable in the rms magnitude.     

TOPEX/Poseidon-Jason Comparison and Combination off Nova Scotia

Sea level observations from the tandem TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and Jason-1 altimetry missions (2002–2003) are used to study characteristics of sea level and surface currents over the Scotian Shelf and Slope off Nova Scotia. The consistency and error characteristics of T/P and Jason-1 measurements are examined not only in terms of sea level and cross-track current anomalies but also with respect to current anomalies at crossovers, kinematic properties associated with Gulf Stream warm core rings (WCR), and the shelf-edge current transport. Nominal absolute currents are constructed by adding the altimetric geostrophic current anomalies to an annual-mean model circulation field. The concurrent frontal analysis data are analyzed for occurrence of the WCRs and associated kinematic properties are derived from altimetric current anomalies. The comparison of the sea level and cross-track current anomalies from January to July 2002 shows overall good agreement between T/P and Jason, with correlation coefficients different from zero at the 5% significance level at essentially all locations for sea level and at most locations for currents. The cross-track geostrophic current anomalies from January to July 2002 and from September 2002 to December 2003 are further used to calculate the root-mean-square (rms) current magnitude, and the normalized relative vorticity associated with WCRs. The altimetric currents are consistent with each other and complementary to frontal analysis data in deriving the properties of the WCRs. The rms current magnitude is ～55 cm/s and the normalized relative vorticity is ～0.15. The model-altimetry combined absolute currents are used to estimate near-surface transport associated with the shelf-edge current, showing good correlation between T/P and Jason estimates and strong seasonal changes. The current anomalies derived from altimetry and moored measurements are significantly (at the 5% significance level) correlated and comparable in the rms magnitude.     

Inferring the global mean sea level from a global tide gauge network

An attempt is made to infer the global mean sea level(GMSL) from a global tide gauge network and frame the problem in terms of the limitations of the network. The network,owing to its limited number of gauges and poor geographical distribution complicated further by unknown vertical land movements,is ill suited for measuring the GMSL. Yet it remains the only available source for deciphering the sea level rise over the last 100 a. The poor sampling characteristics of the tide gauge network have necessitated the usage of statistical inference. A linear optimal estimator based on the Gauss-Markov theorem seems well suited for the job. This still leaves a great deal of freedom in choosing the estimator. GMSL is poorly correlated with tide gauge measurements because the small uniform rise and fall of sea level are masked by the far larger regional signals. On the other hand,a regional mean sea level(RMSL) is much better correlated with the corresponding regional tide gauge measurements. Since the GMSL is simply the sum of RMSLs,the problem is transformed to one of estimating the RMSLs from regional tide gauge measurements. Specifically for the annual heating and cooling cycle,we separate the global ocean into 10-latitude bands and compute for each 10-latitude band the estimator that predicts its RMSL from tide gauges within. In the future,the statistical correlations are to be computed using satellite altimetry. However,as a first attempt,we have used numerical model outputs instead to isolate the problem so as not to get distracted by altimetry or tide gauge errors. That is,model outputs for sea level at tide gauge locations of the GLOSS network are taken as tide gauge measurements,and the RMSLs are computed from the model outputs. The results show an estimation error of approximately 2 mm versus an error of 2.7 cm if we simply average the tide gauge measurements to estimate the GMSL,caused by the much larger regional seasonal cycle and mesoscale variation plaguing the individual tide gauges. The numerical model,Los Alamos POP model Run 11 lasting 3 1/4 a,is one of the best eddy-resolving models and does a good job simulating the annual heating and cooling cycle,but it has no global or regional trend. Thus it has basically succeeded in estimating the seasonal cycle of the GMSL. This is still going to be the case even if we use the altimetry data because the RMSLs are dominated by the seasonal cycle in relatively short periods. For estimating the GMSL trend,longer records and low-pass filtering to isolate the statistical relations that are of interest. Here we have managed to avoid the much larger regional seasonal cycle plaguing individual tide gauges to get a fairly accurate estimate of the much smaller seasonal cycle in the GMSL so as to enhance the prospect of an accurate estimate of GMSL trend in short periods. One should reasonably expect to be able to do the same for longer periods during which tide gauges are plagued by much larger regional interannual(e. g.,ENSO events) and decadal sea level variations. In the future,with the availability of the satellite altimeter data,we could use the same approach adopted here to estimate the seasonal variations of GMSL and RMSL accurately and remove these seasonal variations accordingly so as to get a more accurate statistical inference between the tide gauge data and the RMSLs(therefore the GMSL) at periods longer than 1 a,i. e.,the long-term trend.     

Reduction of geoid gradient error in ocean variability from satellite altimetry

Altimeter measurements of sea‐level variability have errors due to the altimeter not repeatedly sampling the same point on the ocean surface. The errors are proportional to the local slope of the mean sea surface. Accurate removal of geoid error is essential if altimeter data are to be used to study the relationship between geostrophic turbulence and bathymetry. The error can be reduced by using an accurate model of the mean surface. We use the multiyear TOPEX altimeter data set to develop a model for the mean sea surface along the TOPEX/POSEIDON ground track by estimating the coefficients of a local plane centered on every 2 km x 7 km bin sampled by the altimeter. We have evaluated the ability of this model. compared against two global mean sea‐surface models, to reduce the error associated with steep gradients. The two global models are the Center for Space Research 1995 model and the Ohio State University 1995 model. The three models show similar variability over the oceans, and none shows the large residual errors that can be seen in collinear analysis near some seamounts and trenches. The standard deviation of the variability using the plane model, however, is consistently smaller in low‐variability, high‐geoid‐gradient areas, indicating a slightly better performance than the two global models.     

用蒙特卡洛方法研究海洋盐度遥感误差

海洋的盐度观测对于气候和海洋科学的研究有重要的意义,盐度的卫星遥感观测需要估计各种因素带来的误差影响。本文基于海面微波辐射理论和海水相对电容率等模型,采用蒙特卡洛模拟方法研究了在盐度遥感中温度误差、仪器误差以及风速误差对于后续的盐度反演的影响。通过计算温度误差产生的盐度误差,并与敏感性方法的对比发现,在低温低盐时温度误差对盐度反演误差的影响较大,2种方法的偏差较大;而在高温高盐时温度误差对盐度反演误差的影响较小,2种方法的偏差较小。辐射计仪器噪声对盐度误差的影响普遍在0.1psu以上,在低温低盐时可达0.5psu以上。风速误差对盐度反演误差的影响在水平极化状态下随入射角增大,在温度低于20℃时普遍超过1psu;在垂直极化状态下随入射角先减小后增大,在温度低于20℃以及较小的入射角下误差也会超过1psu。对误差的综合分析发现,采用垂直极化状态在高温时这2种误差的影响较小。研究发现,当入射角是45.6°和垂直极化状态下,对于3种典型海面状态(35℃和35psu,20℃和35psu,5℃和30psu),反演的盐度反演误差可达到0.162,0.153和0.444psu,达到了卫星单次扫描对盐度反演的误差要求。     

利用海表盐度等遥感观测产品重构三维盐度场的性能评估

Several remotely sensed sea surface salinity(SSS) retrievals with various resolutions from the soil moisture and ocean salinity(SMOS) and Aquarius/SAC-D missions are applied as inputs for retrieving salinity profiles(S) using multilinear regressions. The performance is evaluated using a total root mean square(RMS) error, different error sources, and the feature resolutions of the retrieved S fields. In the mixed layer of the salinity, the SSS-S regression coefficients are uniformly large. The SSS inputs yield smaller RMS errors in the retrieved S with respect to Argo profiles as their spatial or temporal resolution decreases. The projected SSS errors are dominant, and the retrieved S values are more accurate than those of climatology in the tropics except for the tropical Atlantic, where the regression errors are abnormally large. Below that level, because of the influence of a sea level anomaly, the areas of high-accuracy S values shift to higher latitudes except in the high-latitude southern oceans, where the projected SSS errors are abnormally large. A spectral analysis suggests that the CATDS-0.25° results are much noisier and that the BEC-L4-0.25° results are much smoother than those of the other retrievals. Aquarius-CAP-1° generates the smallest RMS errors, and Aquarius-V2-1° performs well in depicting large-scale phenomena. BEC-L3-0.25°,which has small RMS errors and remarkable mesoscale energy, is the best fit for portraying mesoscale features in the SSS and retrieved S fields. The current priority for retrieving S is to improve the reliability of satellite SSS especially at middle and high latitudes, by developing advanced algorithms, combining both sensors, or weighing between accuracy and resolutions.     

Calibration and Verification of Jason-1 Using Global Along-Track Residuals with TOPEX

It is demonstrated that the Jason-1 measurements of sea surface height (SSH), wet path delay, and ionosphere path delay are within required accuracies, via a global cross-calibration with similar measurements made by TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) over a 6-month period. Since the two satellites were on the same groundtrack separated in time by only 70 s, measurements were recorded at approximately the same location and time. The variations in the wet path delay measured by Jason-1 compared to T/P are only 5 mm RMS, well within the required performance of 1.2 cm RMS. The RMS of the ionosphere differences is also well within the expected values, with a mean RMS of 1.2 cm. The largest difference is that the Jason-1 SSH is biased high relative to T/P SSH by 144 mm after the T/P and Jason-1 data are both corrected with improved sea state bias (SSB) models. However, the bias will change if a different SSB model is used, so the user should be cautious that the bias used matches the SSB models. The bias is generally constant within ± 10 mm in the open ocean, but appears to be higher or lower in some regions. Additionally, the SSH has been verified by comparison with 36 island tide gauges over the same period. After removing the global relative bias, the Jason-1 SSH data agree with tide gauges within 3.7 cm RMS and with T/P data within about 3.5 cm RMS on average for 1-s measurements, meeting the required accuracy of 4.2 cm RMS.     

Calibration and Verification of Jason-1 Using Global Along-Track Residuals with TOPEX Special Issue: Jason-1 Calibration/Validation

It is demonstrated that the Jason-1 measurements of sea surface height (SSH), wet path delay, and ionosphere path delay are within required accuracies, via a global cross-calibration with similar measurements made by TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) over a 6-month period. Since the two satellites were on the same groundtrack separated in time by only 70 s, measurements were recorded at approximately the same location and time. The variations in the wet path delay measured by Jason-1 compared to T/P are only 5 mm RMS, well within the required performance of 1.2 cm RMS. The RMS of the ionosphere differences is also well within the expected values, with a mean RMS of 1.2 cm. The largest difference is that the Jason-1 SSH is biased high relative to T/P SSH by 144 mm after the T/P and Jason-1 data are both corrected with improved sea state bias (SSB) models. However, the bias will change if a different SSB model is used, so the user should be cautious that the bias used matches the SSB models. The bias is generally constant within ± 10 mm in the open ocean, but appears to be higher or lower in some regions. Additionally, the SSH has been verified by comparison with 36 island tide gauges over the same period. After removing the global relative bias, the Jason-1 SSH data agree with tide gauges within 3.7 cm RMS and with T/P data within about 3.5 cm RMS on average for 1-s measurements, meeting the required accuracy of 4.2 cm RMS.     

Steric sea level changes estimated from historical ocean subsurface temperature and salinity analyses

An historical objective analysis of subsurface temperature and salinity was carried out on a monthly basis from 1945 to 2003 using the latest observational databases and a sea surface temperature analysis. In addition, steric sea level changes were mainly examined using outputs of the objective analyses. The objective analysis is a revised version of Ishii et al. and is available at 16 levels in the upper 700 m depth. Artificial errors in the previous analysis during the 1990s have been worked out in the present analysis. The steric sea level computed from the temperature analysis has been verified with tide gauge observations and TOPEX/Poseidon sea surface height data. A correction for crustal movement is applied for tide gauge data along the Japanese coast. The new analysis is suitable for the discussion of global warming. Validation against the tide gauge reveals that the amplitude of thermosteric sea level becomes larger and the agreement improves in comparison with the previous analysis. A substantial part of local sea level rise along the Japanese coast appears to be explained by the thermosteric effect. The thermal expansion averaged in all longitudes from 60°S to 60°N explains at most half of recent sea level rise detected by satellite observation during the last decade. Considerable uncertainties remain in steric sea level, particularly over the southern oceans. Temperature changes within MLD make no effective contribution to steric sea level changes along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. According to statistics using only reliable profiles of the temperature and salinity analyses, salinity variations are intrinsically important to steric sea level changes in high latitudes and in the Atlantic Ocean. Although data sparseness is severe even in the latest decade, linear trends of global mean thermosteric and halosteric sea level for 1955 to 2003 are estimated to be 0.31 ± 0.07 mm/yr and 0.04 ± 0.01 mm/yr, respectively. These estimates are comparable to those of the former studies.     

Comparison of Sea Surface Heights Derived from Satellite Altimetry and from Ocean Bottom Pressure Gauges: The SW Pacific MOTEVAS Project

A bottom pressure gauge (BPG) was installed in proximity (3.7 km at closest approach) of Jason-1 and formerly TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) ground track No. 238 at the Wusi site, located ～ 10 km offshore off the west coast of Santo Island, Vanuatu, Southwest (SW) Pacific. Sea level variations are inferred from the bottom pressure, seawater temperature, and salinity, corrected for the measured surface atmospheric pressure. The expansion of the water column (steric increase in sea surface height, SSH) due to temperature and salinity changes is approximated by the equation of state. We compare time series of SSH derived from T/P Side B altimeter Geophysical Data Records (GDR) and Jason-1 Interim Geophysical Data Records (IGDR), with the gauge-inferred sea level variations. Since altimeter SSH is a geocentric measurement, whereas the gauge-inferred observation is a relative sea level measurement, SSH comparison is conducted with the means of both series removed in this study. In addition, high-rate (1-Hz) bottom pressure implied wave heights (H _1/3 ) are compared with the significant wave height (SWH) measured by Jason-1. Noticeable discrepancy is found in this comparison for high waves, however the differences do not contribute significantly to the difference in sea level variations observed between the altimeter and the pressure gauge. In situ atmospheric pressure measurements are also used to verify the inverse barometer (IB) and the dry troposphere corrections (DTC) used in the Jason IGDR. We observe a bias between the IGDR corrections and those derived from the local sensors. Standard deviations of the sea level differences between T/P and BPG is 52 mm and is 48 mm between Jason and BPG, indicating that both altimeters have similar performance at the Wusi site and that it is feasible to conduct long-term monitoring of altimetry at such a site.     

A GPS and Cold Ocean Brightness Temperature Calibration of the ERS-2 and TOPEX/Poseidon Microwave Radiometers

Sea-level change studies from altimetric satellites are reliant on range stability of the sea surface heights computed from orbital positioning and geophysically corrected data. One such correction, namely the wet tropospheric delay induced by the highly variable atmospheric water vapor content, is provided by radiometers onboard ERS-2 and TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P). In this study the long-term stability of the ERS-2 microwave radiometer (E2MR) and the T/P microwave radiometer (TMR) are investigated with the observed drift in the brightness temperatures approximated by reference to the coldest temperatures over the oceans. The E2MR stability is characterized by a gain anomaly fall in 1996 and a drift in the 23.8 GHz channel. For the TMR, investigations show that the dominant drift is about 0.2 K/year in the 18 GHz channel over the first 7-8 years but stabilizing and even decreasing slightly thereafter. In contrast, the 21 GHz and 37 GHz channels are comparatively stable. Utilizing correction formulae a modified wet tropospheric range is inferred from “small-change” analysis of the radiometric correction given on the altimetric Geophysical Data Records. The accuracy of this formulism is validated by independent comparison against GPS derived wet tropospheric delays inferred at 14 coastal IGS stations with near continuous data from September 1992 through to the present day. Comparisons between GPS results for ERS-2 and T/P show that the E2MR path delay is 14 mm short. For T/P, the spatial distribution of the wet tropospheric enhancement is further investigated to show that the nonuniformity can equate to a deviation in sea-level height change of about 0.1 mm/year compared with global average sea-level change. Finally, the altimetric range stability of T/P is revisited by comparison against time series from the global network of tide gauges. Analysis shows that the validated TMR drift correction results in a residual trend of -0.27 ± 0.11 mm/yr which is not significant at the 3σ level.     

Experiments in reconstructing twentieth-century sea levels

One approach to reconstructing historical sea level from the relatively sparse tide-gauge network is to employ Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) as interpolatory spatial basis functions. The EOFs are determined from independent global data, generally sea-surface heights from either satellite altimetry or a numerical ocean model. The problem is revisited here for sea level since 1900. A new approach to handling the tide-gauge datum problem by direct solution offers possible advantages over the method of integrating sea-level differences, with the potential of eventually adjusting datums into the global terrestrial reference frame. The resulting time series of global mean sea levels appears fairly insensitive to the adopted set of EOFs. In contrast, charts of regional sea level anomalies and trends are very sensitive to the adopted set of EOFs, especially for the sparser network of gauges in the early 20th century. The reconstructions appear especially suspect before 1950 in the tropical Pacific. While this limits some applications of the sea-level reconstructions, the sensitivity does appear adequately captured by formal uncertainties. All our solutions show regional trends over the past five decades to be fairly uniform throughout the global ocean, in contrast to trends observed over the shorter altimeter era. Consistent with several previous estimates, the global sea-level rise since 1900 is 1.70 ± 0.26 mm yr⁻¹. The global trend since 1995 exceeds 3 mm yr⁻¹ which is consistent with altimeter measurements, but this large trend was possibly also reached between 1935 and 1950.     

南海周边中全新世以来的海平面变化研究进展

综述了近几十年来前人有关中全新世以来南海海平面变化研究的主要成果,着重探讨了研究中出现的争议和热点问题,结果表明,南海中全新世确实存在高海平面,海平面最高有2~3 m,出现在7.0~5.5 kaBP;而此后的海平面变化呈振荡模式,波动降低到目前海平面的位置,且与温度波动有一定的同步性,揭示了它们之间的紧密联系。而由卫星观测结果统计出的最近十几年以来南海海平面的上升速率达3.9 mm/a,略高于同期全球平均值;由验潮站统计出的南海海平面上升率为2.4 mm/a,同样略高于相应的全球平均值。最后还指出了研究过程中存在的主要问题与不足,并初步总结出一些改进措施:①使用高精度的定年技术,减少年龄误差;②在构造相对稳定的海岸段研究古海平面变化;③尽量采用高精度的标志物,如微环礁、管形虫壳等。     

A grey model with periodic term for sea-level analysis and its application to the Guangxi coast

A~as~Sof~~LIngeneral,sealevelisresolvedintOatrendtermplusaPeriedictermintheanalysisofsealevelvdriations(haetal.1996;ZuoandChen,1996;QinandLi,1997;Zhengetal.,1993;RenandZhang,1993),namely,thetimeequencesofmonthlyorannualmeansealevely(o)(t)canbeexpr~asy(o)(t)=T(o)(t) p(o)(t) X(o)(t) .(o)(t),(l)whereT(o)(t)isadefinitetrendterm;p(o)(t)isadefiniteperiedicterm;X(o)(t)isatimeseriesofrandomterm;a(o)(t)iswhitenoise.Thefunctionstructuresofthetrendtermaregenerallyunknown,whiledeterminingthetrendter…     

Comparison of Sea Surface Heights Derived from Satellite Altimetry and from Ocean Bottom Pressure Gauges: The SW Pacific MOTEVAS Project

A bottom pressure gauge (BPG) was installed in proximity (3.7 km at closest approach) of Jason-1 and formerly TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) ground track No. 238 at the Wusi site, located ∼ 10 km offshore off the west coast of Santo Island, Vanuatu, Southwest (SW) Pacific. Sea level variations are inferred from the bottom pressure, seawater temperature, and salinity, corrected for the measured surface atmospheric pressure. The expansion of the water column (steric increase in sea surface height, SSH) due to temperature and salinity changes is approximated by the equation of state. We compare time series of SSH derived from T/P Side B altimeter Geophysical Data Records (GDR) and Jason-1 Interim Geophysical Data Records (IGDR), with the gauge-inferred sea level variations. Since altimeter SSH is a geocentric measurement, whereas the gauge-inferred observation is a relative sea level measurement, SSH comparison is conducted with the means of both series removed in this study. In addition, high-rate (1-Hz) bottom pressure implied wave heights (H_1/3) are compared with the significant wave height (SWH) measured by Jason-1. Noticeable discrepancy is found in this comparison for high waves, however the differences do not contribute significantly to the difference in sea level variations observed between the altimeter and the pressure gauge. In situ atmospheric pressure measurements are also used to verify the inverse barometer (IB) and the dry troposphere corrections (DTC) used in the Jason IGDR. We observe a bias between the IGDR corrections and those derived from the local sensors. Standard deviations of the sea level differences between T/P and BPG is 52 mm and is 48 mm between Jason and BPG, indicating that both altimeters have similar performance at the Wusi site and that it is feasible to conduct long-term monitoring of altimetry at such a site.     

海表面盐度的高精度预测模型

为了建立高精度的海洋表面盐度预测模型,采用BP神经网络的方法,针对SMOS卫星level 1C级亮度温度数据和辅助数据建立了一种海表面盐度预测模型,以ARGO浮标观测值作为海表盐度实测值来检验新模型预测结果的准确度,同时利用验证集对模型的精度进行验证.结果表明:通过新模型预测的海表盐度(SSS0)比SMOS卫星的3个粗...     

基于ROMS模式利用集合最优插值同化沿轨海表面高度异常数据的研究

The ensemble optimal interpolation （EnOI） is applied to the regional ocean modeling system （ROMS） with the ability to assimilate the along-track sea level anomaly （TSLA）. This system is tested with an eddy-resolving system of the South China Sea （SCS）. Background errors are derived from a running seasonal ensemble to account for the seasonal variability within the SCS. A fifth-order localization function with a 250 km localization radius is chosen to reduce the negative effects of sampling errors. The data assimilation system is tested from January 2004 to December 2006. The results show that the root mean square deviation （RMSD） of the sea level anomaly decreased from 10.57 to 6.70 cm, which represents a 36.6% reduction of error. The data assimilation reduces error for temperature within the upper 800 m and for salinity within the upper 200 m, although error degrades slightly at deeper depths. Surface currents are in better agreement with trajectories of surface drifters after data assimilation. The variance of sea level improves significantly in terms of both the amplitude and position of the strong and weak variance regions after assimilating TSLA. Results with AGE error （AGE） perform better than no AGE error （NoAGE） when considering the improvements of the temperature and the salinity. Furthermore, reasons for the extremely strong variability in the northern SCS in high resolution models are investigated. The results demonstrate that the strong variability of sea level in the high resolution model is caused by an extremely strong Kuroshio intrusion. Therefore, it is demonstrated that it is necessary to assimilate the TSLA in order to better simulate the SCS with high resolution models.