Abstract
In this article, we present a number of significant results related to the solid Earth and its fluid envelopes obtained in the recent years/decades using remote sensing techniques. We first discuss measurements of the Earth gravity field at different spatial scales and the recovery of seafloor topography from satellite altimetry. We briefly mention precise positioning results based on GPS and other space techniques, and applications to tectonic motions and crustal deformations. Next we discuss recent advances in ocean dynamics based on high-precision satellite altimetry missions, and focus on sea level rise. We also discuss how remote sensing techniques, including space gravimetry, inform on the mass balance of the ice sheets and corresponding contribution to sea level rise. As a final example, we report on the monitoring of surface water levels (lakes, rivers, floodplains) by satellite altimetry and on total land water storage change at river basin scale, using space gravimetry observations.
Highlights
Since many decades, remote sensing observations provide images of the Earth’s atmosphere, routinely used for weather forecast
Together with the data of its successors, Jason-1 and Jason2, we have at our disposal a > 15-year long data set of very high value for studying ocean circulation, ocean dynamics and sea level [1]
Since the early 1990s, remote sensing observations based on airborne laser and satellite radar altimetry, INSAR and space gravimetry have provided observations of the mass balance of the ice sheets (e.g., [31,32,33,34]; see [35] in this volume)
Summary
Remote sensing observations provide images of the Earth’s atmosphere, routinely used for weather forecast. The main tools of space geodesy are distance and relative velocity measurements between ground geodetic stations and satellites (e.g., Satellite Laser Ranging, GPS, DORIS) as well as travel time of radio signals between satellites in different orbit. These so called tracking data are used to precisely determine the evolution of the satellite orbits with time. Space geodesy uses onboard devices such as radar and optical imagers which provide direct mapping of Earth’s surface properties Another space technique of great interest for Earth studies is radar altimetry. On time scales ranging from months to decades, surface mass redistribution predominantly results from water mass exchange among the surface fluid envelopes of the Earth (oceans, atmosphere, ice caps, continental reservoirs) and is related to climate variability and anthropogenic forcing
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