Correlated environmental corrections in TOPEX/POSEIDON, with a note on ionospheric accuracy

Abstract

Estimates of the effectiveness of an altimetric correction, and interpretation of sea level variability as a response to atmospheric forcing, both depend upon assuming that residual errors in altimetric corrections are uncorrelated among themselves and with residual sea level, or knowing the correlations. Not surprisingly, many corrections are highly correlated since they involve atmospheric properties and the ocean surface's response to them. The full corrections (including their geographically varying time mean values), show correlations between electromagnetic bias (mostly the height of wind waves) and either atmospheric pressure or water vapor of −40%, and between atmospheric pressure and water vapor of 28%. In the more commonly used collinear differences (after removal of the geographically varying time mean), atmospheric pressure and wave height show a −30% correlation, atmospheric pressure and water vapor a −10% correlation, both pressure and water vapor a 7% correlation with residual sea level, and a bit surprisingly, ionospheric electron content and wave height a 15% correlation. Only the ocean tide is totally uncorrelated with other corrections or residual sea level. The effectiveness of three ionospheric corrections (TOPEX dual‐frequency, a smoothed version of the TOPEX dual‐frequency, and Doppler orbitography and radiopositioning integrated by satellite (DORIS) is also evaluated in terms of their reduction in variance of residual sea level. Smooth (90–200 km along‐track) versions of the dual‐frequency altimeter ionosphere perform best both globally and within 20° in latitude from the equator. The noise variance in the 1/s TOPEX ionospheric samples is ∼(11 mm)2, about the same as noise in the DORIS‐based correction; however, the latter has its error over scales of order 103 km. Within 20° of the equator, the DORIS‐based correction adds (14 mm)2 to the residual sea level variance.