Prof. Carl Wunsch of MIT will present a lecture in the MSEAS series. Abstract: The seemingly simple problem of determining mean sea level and its changes produces a series of technically challenging and interesting sub-problems. These range from the need to understand ocean sampling distributions through time, the determination of ice sheet volume changes, post-glacial rebound, and a whole series of modelling problems, including the ways in which freshwater enters the ocean, the failure of the Boussinesq approximation, among numerous other issues. The extent to which sea level rise (or fall) has human consequences will be touched on.

The lecture is part of the Multidisciplinary Simulation, Estimation, and Assimilation Systems (MSEAS) Seminar Series.