Satellite-borne Altimeter Research Articles

Fine-Scale Ocean Currents Derived From in situ Observations in Anticipation of the Upcoming SWOT Altimetric Mission

After the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite planned for 2022, the region around the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Sea) will be the target of several in situ sampling campaigns aimed at validating the first available tranche of SWOT data. In preparation for this validation, the PRE-SWOT cruise in 2018 was conceived to explore the three-dimensional (3D) circulation at scales of 20 km that SWOT aims to resolve, included in the fine-scale range (1–100 km) as defined by the altimetric community. These scales and associated variability are not captured by contemporary nadir altimeters. Temperature and salinity observations reveal a front that separates local Atlantic Water in the northeast from recent Atlantic Water in the southeast, and extends from the surface to ~150 m depth with maximum geostrophic velocities of the order of 0.20 m s−1 and a geostrophic Rossby number that ranges between −0.24 and 0.32. This front is associated with a 3D vertical velocity field characterized by an upwelling cell surrounded by two downwelling cells, one to the east and the other to the west. The upwelling cell is located near an area with high nitrate concentrations, possibly indicating a recent inflow of nutrients. Meanwhile, subduction of chlorophyll-a in the western downwelling cell is detected in glider observations. The comparison of the altimetric geostrophic velocity with the CTD-derived geostrophic velocity, the ADCP horizontal velocity, and drifter trajectories, shows that the present-day resolution of altimetric products precludes the representation of the currents that drive the drifter displacement. The Lagrangian analysis based on these velocities demonstrates that the study region has frontogenetic dynamics not detected by altimetry. Our results suggest that the horizontal component of the flow is mainly geostrophic down to scales of 20 km in the study region and during the period analyzed, and should therefore be resolvable by SWOT and other future satellite-borne altimeters with higher resolutions. In addition, fine-scale features have an impact on the physical and biochemical spatial variability, and multi-platform in situ sampling with a resolution similar to that expected from SWOT can capture this variability.

Multi-platform model assessment in the Western Mediterranean Sea: impact of downscaling on the surface circulation and mesoscale activity

In numerical ocean modeling, dynamical downscaling is the approach consisting in generating high-resolution regional simulations exploiting the information from coarser resolution models for initial and boundary conditions. Here we evaluate the impacts of downscaling the 1/16o (~ 6–7 km) CMEMS Mediterranean reanalysis model solution into a high-resolution 2-km free-run simulation over the Western Mediterranean basin, focusing on the surface circulation and mesoscale activity. Multi-platform observations from satellite-borne altimeters, high-frequency radar, fixed moorings, and gliders are used for this evaluation, providing insights into the variability from basin to coastal scales. Results show that the downscaling leads to an improvement of the time-averaged surface circulation, especially in the topographically complex area of the Balearic Sea. In particular, the path of the Balearic current is improved in the high-resolution model, also positively affecting transports through the Ibiza Channel. While the high-resolution model produces a similar number of large eddies as CMEMS Med Rea and altimetry, it generates a much larger number of small-scale eddies. Looking into the variability, in the absence of data assimilation, the high-resolution model is not able to properly reproduce the observed phases of mesoscale structures, especially in the southern part of the domain. This negatively affects the representation of the variability of the surface currents interacting with these eddies, highlighting the importance of data assimilation in the high-resolution ocean model in this region to constrain the evolution of these mesoscale structures.

Commonly used methods fail to detect known propagation speeds of simulated signals from time–longitude (Hovmöller) diagrams

Abstract. This work examines the accuracy and validity of two variants of Radon transform and two variants of the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2-D FFT) that have been previously used for estimating the propagation speed of oceanic signals such as sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs) derived from satellite-borne altimeters based on time–longitude (Hovmöller) diagrams. The examination employs numerically simulated signals made up of 20 or 50 modes where one, randomly selected, mode has a larger amplitude than the uniform amplitude of the other modes. Since the dominant input mode is known ab initio, we can clearly define “success” in detecting its phase/propagation speed. We show that all previously employed variants fail to detect the phase speed of the dominant input mode when its amplitude is smaller than 5 times the amplitude of the other modes and that they successfully detect the phase speed of the dominant input mode only when its amplitude is at least 10 times the amplitude of the other modes. This requirement is an unrealistic limitation on oceanic observations such as SSHA. In addition, three of the variant methods detect a dominant mode even when all modes have the exact same amplitude. The accuracy with which the four methods identify a dominant input mode decreases with the increase in the number of modes in the signal. Our findings are relevant to the reliability of phase speed estimates of SSHA observations and the reported “too fast” a phase speed of baroclinic Rossby waves in the ocean.

Fever of un-Swiss origin

Observations of sea surface height (SSH) fields using satellite borne altimeters were conducted starting in the 1990s in various parts of the world ocean. Currently, a long period of 20 years of calibrated and accurate altimeter observations of Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) is publically available and ready to be examined for determining the rate of westward propagation of these anomalies, which are interpreted as a surface manifestation of linear Rossby waves that propagate westward in the ocean thermocline or as nonlinear eddies. The basis for estimating the speed of westward propagation of SSHA is time-longitude (Hovmöller) diagrams of the SSHA field at fixed latitude. In such a diagram the westward propagation is evident from a left-upward tilt of constant SSHA values (i.e. contours) and the angle between this tilt and the ordinate is directly proportional to the speed of westward propagation. In this work we use synthetically generated noisy data to examine the accuracy of three different methods that have been separately used in previous studies for estimating this slope (angle) of the time-longitude diagram: The first is the application of Radon transform, used in image processing for detecting structures on an image. The second method is the application of 2D Fast Fourier Transform that yields a frequency-wavenumber diagram of the amplitudes so the frequency and wavenumber where the maximum amplitude occurs determine the phase speed i.e. the slope. The third method constitutes an adaptation of Radon transform to a propagating wave in which structures of minimal variance in the image are identified. The three methods do not always yield the same phase speed value and our analysis of the synthetic data shows that an estimate of the phase speed at any given latitude should be considered valid only when at least two of the methods yield the same value. The relevance of the suggested procedure to observed signals is verified by applying it to observed SSHA signals in the ocean.

Trapped planetary (Rossby) waves observed in the Indian Ocean by satellite borne altimeters

Abstract. Using 20 years of accurately calibrated, high-resolution observations of sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs) by satellite borne altimeters, we show that in the Indian Ocean south of the Australian coast the low-frequency variations of SSHAs are dominated by westward propagating, trapped, i.e., non-harmonic, Rossby (Planetary) waves. Our results demonstrate that the meridional-dependent amplitudes of the SSHAs are large only within a few degrees of latitude next to the southern Australian coast while farther in the ocean they are uniformly small. This meridional variation of the SSHA signal is typical of the amplitude structure in the trapped wave theory. The westward propagation speed of the SSHA signal is analyzed by employing three different methods of estimation. Each one of these methods yields speed estimates that can vary widely between adjacent latitudes but the combination of at least two of the three methods yields much smoother variation. The estimates obtained in this manner show that the observed phase speeds at different latitudes exceed the phase speeds of harmonic Rossby (planetary) waves by 140 to 200 % (which was also reported in previous studies). In contrast, the theory of trapped Rossby (planetary) waves in a domain bounded by a wall on its equatorward side yields phase speeds that approximate more closely the observed phase speeds in the study area.

An accurate procedure for estimating the phase speed of ocean waves from observations by satellite borne altimeters

Observations of sea surface height (SSH) fields using satellite borne altimeters were conducted starting in the 1990s in various parts of the world ocean. Currently, a long period of 20 years of calibrated and accurate altimeter observations of Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) is publically available and ready to be examined for determining the rate of westward propagation of these anomalies, which are interpreted as a surface manifestation of linear Rossby waves that propagate westward in the ocean thermocline or as nonlinear eddies. The basis for estimating the speed of westward propagation of SSHA is time-longitude (Hovmöller) diagrams of the SSHA field at fixed latitude. In such a diagram the westward propagation is evident from a left-upward tilt of constant SSHA values (i.e. contours) and the angle between this tilt and the ordinate is directly proportional to the speed of westward propagation. In this work we use synthetically generated noisy data to examine the accuracy of three different methods that have been separately used in previous studies for estimating this slope (angle) of the time-longitude diagram: The first is the application of Radon transform, used in image processing for detecting structures on an image. The second method is the application of 2D Fast Fourier Transform that yields a frequency-wavenumber diagram of the amplitudes so the frequency and wavenumber where the maximum amplitude occurs determine the phase speed i.e. the slope. The third method constitutes an adaptation of Radon transform to a propagating wave in which structures of minimal variance in the image are identified. The three methods do not always yield the same phase speed value and our analysis of the synthetic data shows that an estimate of the phase speed at any given latitude should be considered valid only when at least two of the methods yield the same value. The relevance of the suggested procedure to observed signals is verified by applying it to observed SSHA signals in the ocean.

Validating ICESat Over Thick Sea Ice in the Northern Canada Basin

Only in the past eight years has the feasibility of using satellite-borne altimeters to estimate sea ice freeboard and thickness been demonstrated, and these estimates still have uncertainties primarily associated with limited knowledge of snow loading on sea ice. Because accurate estimates of Arctic-wide sea ice thickness and volume are fundamental inputs to global climate models, validation of satellite-derived thickness estimates using independent data is required. A detailed assessment of freeboard retrieved by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) aboard the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite has been carried out using high-resolution laser altimetry from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM), the Delay-Doppler radar altimeter, and digital photography collected along a 300-km segment of sea ice in the Canada Basin. Exploiting the repeat coverage of the aircraft flight line, a correction was applied to GLAS footprint geolocations to adjust for sea ice drift that occurred during the time between satellite and aircraft acquisitions. Comparisons of GLAS and ATM measurements over sea ice show excellent agreement (about a 0.00-m mean) with no apparent bias between data sets. Freeboard estimates were examined using data from GLAS and ATM independently, employing measurements over refrozen leads to estimate local sea surface heights (SSHs). The results demonstrate the sensitivity of freeboard and thickness calculations to an accurate estimation of local SSH. Snow depth derived by differencing laser and radar data was combined with the freeboard estimates to yield a mean sea ice thickness of ~ 5.5 m over a 250-km subsection of the flight track.

A Study on Orbit Determination by Using the Data of Crossovers from Satellite-borne Altimeter

Starting with the status of the developments of oceanic altimetry satellites, the significance of orbit determination by using altimeter data is introduced. Then the error correction model of the altimeter data and the calculational method of the data of crossovers are analyzed. The modification quantities of the errors and the adopted model concerned in the files of the altimeter data from the aircraft JASON-1 are also introduced in detail. Finally, through the calculations of the simulated data and the data of actual measurements, the highest accuracies of the orbit determination reached by solely using the altimeter data and the data of crossovers are analyzed, respectively. And this work provides a valuable reference to the practical applications in future.

Altimeter Repeat-Track Analysis-A Comparison of Various Algorithms for Producing the Mean Profile

Abstract Sea surface height may be measured by a satellite-borne altimeter and its along-track slope used to infer geostrophic currents. A major difficulty is that, in general, the local geoid and satellite orbit are not known to the accuracy desired. Thus, comparison is often made between repeat flights of an altimeter along fixed ground tracks in order to infer the changes in the currents. In practice, it is convenient to calculate mean height profile from many repeat passes and use this as a reference, so that individual altimetric profiles yield variations about this mean. It is thus important to derive a high-quality reliable estimate of the altimetric mean in order to minimize the errors in the inferred flows for the individual repeats. This work examines various methods for deriving the mean profile. Using simulations, it is shown that the error of an algorithm in retrieval of the original mean can be expressed as the sum of the error due to oceanographic signals and random noise (which is the same...

Simulations of satellite-borne altimeter tracking system with transponder in calibration test

Abstract This article describes a simulation of the satellite-borne altimeter tracking system and its calibration. This calibration simulation uses a point target such as a land-based transponder to check the measurement accuracy of the altimeter. It introduces the Advanced Altimeter Tracker (AAT) which is used in this simulation and analyses two tracking algorithms: Offset Centre Of Gravity (OCOG) and Sub-optimal Maximum Likelihood Estimator (SMLE) in detail. The response of the AAT to the transponder pulse is also given. After a set of simulations of the AAT with the input composite signal of transponder pulse and ocean echoes the effect of the noise and ocean echoes on the transponder-based calibration is given. This result is also suitable for other radar point target calibration case.

Ocean modelling studies in support of altimetry

Abstract Simulation studies are presented that consider the degree to which baroclinic ocean circulation models are constrained by observations of the surface pressure field on space and time-scales possible with future satellite-borne altimeters. Two- and three-layer eddy resolving quasi-geostrophic models are used to simulate and assimilate altimetric observations. For synoptic mapping of the oceanic eddy field on the scale of an ocean basin, a satellite orbit repeat time of 14 days is found to be optimum. Our studies suggest that altimetric observations will provide strong constraints on the surface flow of such models and, if used in conjunction with them, may be used to infer the deep flows.

Applications of satellite altimetry to oceanography and geophysics

Satellite-borne altimeters have had a profound impact on geodesy, geophysics, and physical oceanography. To first order approximation, profiles of sea surface height are equivalent to the geoid and are highly correlated with seafloor topography for wavelengths less than 1000 km. Using all available Geos-3 and Seasat altimeter data, mean sea surfaces and geoid gradient maps have been computed for the Bering Sea and the South Pacific. When enhanced using hill-shading techniques, these images reveal in graphic detail the surface expression of seamounts, ridges, trenches, and fracture zones. Such maps are invaluable in oceanic regions where bathymetric data are sparse. Superimposed on the static geoid topography is dynamic topography due to ocean circulation. Temporal variability of dynamic height due to oceanic eddies can be determined from time series of repeated altimeter profiles. Maps of sea height variability and eddy kinetic energy derived from Geos-3 and Seasat altimetry in some cases represent improvements over those derived from standard oceanographic observations. Measurement of absolute dynamic height imposes stringent requirements on geoid and orbit accuracies, although existing models and data have been used to derive surprisingly realistic global circulation solutions. Further improvement will only be made when advances are made in geoid modeling and precision orbit determination. In contrast, it appears that use of altimeter data to correct satellite orbits will enable observation of basin-scale sea level variations of the type associated with climatic phenomena.