Abstract
Measurements by single-frequency satellite altimeter (Geosat, ERS-1) require a ionospheric correction to account for the signal time delay in the ionosphere. We propose using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) for the determina-tion of this time delay. To investigate the effectiveness of an IRI correction, we have compared the IRI values with ionospheric corrections deduced from measurements by the dual-frequency Topex altimeter. By measuring at two frequencies, the Topex instrument can record (and thus eliminate) the ionospheric influence. We find that IRI agrees with the Topex data much better than the model that is currently used in Geosat data analysis. In particular the earlier model does not represent the equatorial double-peak (equator anomaly) clearly seen in the Topex data. Overall, the use of IRI results in a 30% improvement (over the older model) in the accuracy of ionospheric corrections computed for the first year of the Topex mission.
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