Sea-surface height (
SSH) is the
height (or
topography or
relief) of the
ocean's surface. On a daily basis, SSH is most obviously affected by the
tidal forces of the
Moon and the
Sun acting on the
Earth. Over longer timescales, SSH is influenced by
ocean circulation. Typically, SSH anomalies resulting from these forces differ from the mean by less than ± at the global scale. The slowest and largest variations are due to changes in the
Earth's
gravitational field (
geoid) due to the rearrangement of continents, formation of sea mounts and other redistribution of rock.