Satellite altimetry some background

The altimeter is an established ocean remote sensor providing sea surface height, near surface winds, and significant wave height at global to local spatial scales. All weather microwave (14 GHz) Polar-orbit dedicated to ocean observations Main objective ocean dynamic topography A narrow swath, not an imager or synoptic scale mapping system Database since 1978 climate applications T/P advanced the state-of-the art in many facets (since 1993, now Jason-1 and 2) Large constellation similar issues and apps. Continued work on measurement product accuracy

Recent satellite altimeter constellation

Altimeter range data global tide gauge

Dynamic topography global and basin-scale (3-5 cm precision) : Ocean circulation, model assimilation geostrophic currents Rossby waves Mesoscale eddies Kelvin waves Tides, Internal Tides

Sea level rise (0.2-0.4 mm/year accuracy)

Dec. 26, 2004

Tsunami observed from space

Wave height and wind speed

Met. forecasting and wave model validation and assimilation Interannual-to-decadal climate study Air-sea fluxes gas transfer & wave breaking Altimeter range correction Intercalibration of other satellite ocean sensors

Pulse-limited Ocean Altimetry Microwave

altimeter sounding Eff. Radar Pulsewidth X = 3.1 nsec

Amplitude

P(t)

Plan view at surface Track point: range to the mean surface

Time

Radar return P(t)

Pulse-limited Ocean Altimetry Microwave

altimeter sounding Eff. Radar Pulsewidth X = 3.1 nsec

Amplitude

leading edge

P(t)

Plan view at surface

Time

Radar return P(t)

Slope of leading edge w significant wave height (SWH)

Pulse-limited Ocean Altimetry Microwave

altimeter sounding Eff. Radar Pulsewidth X = 3.1 nsec

Amplitude

P(t)

Maximum w inverse of wind speed (via short wave speckle)

Time

Plan view at surface

Radar return P(t)

A rough ocean surface and altimetry

The full spectrum enfolds quasi-linear ocean gravity waves, breaking waves, nonlinear wave-wave, and small-scale wave dynamics remote sensing often focuses on the steeper short-scale wavelets Altimetry can get at both the short ripples (wind speed) and the elevation variance (SWH). Ocean MW radar makes a 2-scale split
Short waves (high freq.) = 1 m and less Long waves (low freq.) = 1 m and longer

Swell: non-local

Developing Seas Intermediatescale gravity waves (1-10 m)

Gravity-capillary waves (10 cm- 5 mm)

Pulse-limited Ocean Altimetry and SWH

The perturbation to the altimeter flat surface response caused by ocean wave elevation alters the shape of the reflected radar signal - > sea state elevation information Altimeter SWH estimate is gained by directly using the timing/range measurement system to invert W = variance of the surface elevation within the footprint

H 1/3 = SWH = Hs = 4 * W (by definition)

Pulse-limited Ocean Altimetry and SWH

Highly accurate method of rms wave height measurement (10 cm bias, 15-20 cm rms) Depends on radar receiver waveform sampling interval called range gates and stable short transmit pulse Minimum SWH tied to radar pulsewidth (order 30-50 cm) Spatial resolution (footprint radius r) scales as r =c X h where h is distance to the ocean Precision gained by averaging (average from 2 Khz to 1 Hz )
Typical avgd. ocean and flat surface waveforms

A rough ocean and altimeter wind speed the energy reflected

Flat river return 3-4 times greater than roughened ocean

Gravity-capillary waves (10 cm- 5 mm)

A rough ocean and altimeter wind speed the energy reflected

Altimeter normalized radar cross section = W0 roughly inverse with wind speed magnitude Good models up to U = 20 m/s, rms near 1.4 m/s.

Implementation from space - coverage

Precision dynamic topography mission = narrow footprint along track of order 5 km resolution in x and y Polar orbiting with typical 10-35 day periods for global coverage Result - NOT A SWATH OR SYNOPTIC SCALE MAPPING SYSTEM 10 days for global SWH

Implementation from space - coverage

Things can get slightly better with multiple satellite altimeters

10 days for global SWH

Implementation from space - coverage

Things can get slightly better with multiple satellite altimeters

10 days for global SWH

GFO (red) and Jason-2(black) SWH data for +- 3 hours during Bertha, July 2008

Implementation from space - coverage

Things can get slightly better with multiple satellite altimeters

10 days for global SWH

GFO (red) and Jason-2(black) SWH data for +- 3 hours during Bertha, July 2008

Implementation from space - coverage

Things can get slightly better with multiple satellite altimeters

10 days for global SWH

Satellite altimeters - past to future

Satellite altimeters - present to future

Altimeters in Orbit
France (CNES)/U.S. (NASA) Jason-1 & Jason-2 Europe (ESA) ENVISAT

Altimeters in Development
Europe (ESA) Cryosat-2 early 2010 India (ISRO)/France (CNES) SARAL 2010 China (SOA) HY-2 early 2011 Europe (ESA) Sentinel-3A 2013 1st of two Europe (EUMETSAT)/U.S. (NOAA) Jason-3 2013 U.S. (Navy) GFO-2 2013

Satellite altimeter data for after lunch

some satellite altimeter terminology. Along-track data raw ground track versus derived gridded maps Waveform Onboard tracking (non retracked data) (Waveform) Retracking Sigma naught the normalized radar cross section measurement tied to the amplitude of the waveform and then wind speed Pulse-limited footprint FD, NRT (fast delivery, near real time) products GDR (geophysical data record) SLA sea level anomaly SSHA sea surface height anomaly MSL mean sea level cal/val calibration and validation