Coastal currents from Jason-2 and SARAL/AltiKa in the Indian region

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, data from space-based altimeters (Jason-2 and Satellite for ARgos and AltiKa [SARAL/AltiKa]) have been used to compute alongshore geostrophic currents in the coastal regions of the Indian mainland. These derived currents are compared with high-frequency (HF) radar observations. Beyond 30–40 km away from the coastline, altimeter-derived currents match fairly well with the HF radar data. Root mean square error (RMSE) of Jason-2-derived currents ranges between 0.3 and 0.6 m s−1 while the same in the case of SARAL/AltiKa lies between 0.3 and 0.7 m s−1. Satellite-derived across-track geostrophic current components (alongshore current) were also used to study the spatiotemporal variations of the east India coastal current (EICC). The coastal trapping of the EICC, its annual and intra-seasonal peaks are clearly observed in the power spectrum of time-series of Jason-2 and SARAL/AltiKa derived currents.