King Tide floods in Tuvalu

Abstract

The spatial and temporal distributions of sea level rise present regional floods in some certain areas. The low-lying island countries are obviously the spots affected severely. Tuvalu, an atoll island country located in the south-west Pacific Ocean, is suffering the devastating effects of losing life, property, and intending migration caused by floods. They blame the regional flooding to King Tide, a term used but not clearly identified by Pacific islanders. In this study, we clarify what King Tide is first. By the tide gauge and topography data, we estimated the reasonable value of 3.2 m as the threshold of King Tide. This definition also fits to the statement by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of King Tide occurring once or twice a year. In addition, We cross validate the 19 yr data of tide gauge and satellite altimeter (1993-2012), the correlation coefficient indicates King Tide phenomenon is considerable connected to warm water mass. The 28 King Tide events revealed the fact that flooding can be referenced against spring tide levels, so can it be turned up by warm water mass. The warm water mass pushes up sea level; once spring tide, storm surge, or other climate variability overlaps it, the rising sea level might overflow and so has been called "King Tide" for the floods in Tuvalu. This study provides more understanding of the signals of King Tide and an island country case study of regional sea level rise.