Global Inland Water Monitoring from Satellite Radar Altimetry – a Glimpse into the Future
نویسندگان
چکیده
The capability of satellite radar altimeters to monitor the height changes of major lakes is well established. However, river systems present far more challenging targets. By retracking altimeter echoes using an expert system approach, river heights can be successfully monitored; this capability is bounded by the along-track sampling rate. However, a glimpse into the potential of future altimeters can be gained from the EnviSat RA-2 Individual Echoes (IEs). These unique echoes, gathered at full 1800Hz along-track sampling rate, allow a detailed investigation of small parts of the earth’s river systems. The superb quality of the RA-2 means that these echoes can be retracked at full resolution. This paper presents a global analysis of the inland water monitoring capability of ERS2, EnviSat, TOPEX, Jason1 and Jason2, and uses the RA-2 IEs to demonstrate the potential of SAR mode altimetry to transform the monitoring capability by more than one order of magnitude.
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