Decadal Sea level patterns around Arabian Peninsula at its impact to ENSO events

The study investigates three decades (1990–2020) of sea-level variation across the Arabian Peninsula using Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) and satellite-based Sea Surface Height (SSH) data. PSMSL and SSH observations are used over six stations, and their linear trends and accelerations along the coast are estimated. The results show a positive trend for both data, points out the rise of sea level, possibly because of land sinking due to oceanic plate subduction. The study also discussed a critical connection between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event and the cause of large sea-level rise. The SSH data from 1993 to 2020 reveals significant fluctuations attributed to the ENSO phenomenon over the Arabian Peninsula. Based on RMSE statistics, locations exhibiting greater volatility, such as SALALAH and ADEN, demonstrate inferior performance compared to MANAMA and MUSCAT. The average SSH trend reflects the impacts of ENSO, exhibiting negative anomalies during La Niña event and positive anomalies during El Niño events. While locations such as ADEN and SALALAH demonstrate a decrease in SSH, MANAMA often displays a favorable trend of rising SSH. This indicates that local ocean dynamics are significantly affected by global climate. The discrepancies in SSH measurements at each site underscore the necessity of accounting for regional and local variability when assessing sea level change. MANAMA exhibits a robust positive correlation, but ADEN demonstrates a notable negative association with regional SSH patterns. Finally, the marine topography of the Arabian Peninsula has been disclosed with an elevation of onshore and offshore bathymetry alteration and changes in the sea floor. The contour spacing and alignment identified the major and minor faults, and the Aden ridge is noticeable due to the contour pattern where transverse faults to the ridge are accompanied by opposite movement of plates.