D I R E C T measurement of large-scale ocean currents with current meter arrays is difficult and costly on basin scales. Since large-scale currents are very nearly in geostrophic balance, their velocity can be calculated from the pressure gradient on an equigeopotential surface. The surface geostrophic current therefore can be calculated from the deviation of sea level from the equigeopotential...

This report concerns the validation of surface velocity estimated from satellite images. The estimation is obtained with a dynamic model based on shallow-water equations. We first compare the stationary assumption to the shallow-water heuristics to justify our choice. Second, we quantify the quality of the estimation by measuring the misfit between the model output and the altimetry measures. E...

Differences in electromagnetic path delay, between direct Global Positioning System (GPS) signals and those reflected from the surface of Crater Lake, have led to lake surface height estimates with 2-cm precision in 1 second. This is the first high-precision altimetric demonstration with GPS from sufficient altitude (≈ 480 m) to probe fundamental experimental errors, which bear on future airand...

Introduction: In October 2004, SAR imaging from Cassini’s TA encounter uncovered features suggestive of cryovolcanic constructs on Titan, including flows, sinuous channels, and the 180 km structure Ganesa Macula [1]. Ganesa Macula is a radar-dark, circular feature with bright flanks, sinuous channels, and a bright region in the center that may be a central depression. In many ways, Ganesa Macul...

Arctic sea surface height (SSH) is poorly observed by radar altimeters due to the poor coverage of the polar oceans provided by conventional altimeter missions and because large areas are perpetually covered by sea ice, requiring specialized data processing. We utilize SSH estimates from both the icecovered and ice-free ocean to present monthly estimates of Arctic Dynamic Ocean Topography (DOT)...

The performance of coastal altimetry over a wide continental shelf is assessed using multiple-year ocean current observations by moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) and high-frequency (HF) radar on the West Florida Shelf. Across-track, surface geostrophic velocity anomalies, derived from the X-TRACK along-track sea level anomalies are compared with the near surface current vector c...

Recent developments in electronics and nanosatellite technologies combined with modeling techniques developed over the past 20 years have enabled a new class of altimetry and wind remote sensing capabilities that offer markedly improved performance over existing observatories while opening avenues to new applications. Most existing spaceborne ocean altimetry and wind observatories are in polar ...