Abstract The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) is the first European laser altimeter constructed for interplanetary flight. BELA uses a 50 mJ pulsed Nd:YAG operating at 10 Hz with 20 cm aperture receiver to perform ranging. instrument also digital approach range detection and pulse analysis. ranging accuracy expected be better than 2 metres ∼20 in optimum conditions. With given, only slightly ...

The momentum balance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is investigated using both output from a highresolution primitive equation model and sea surface height measurements from the Geosat altimeter. In the Semtner–Chervin general circulation model, run with approximately one-quarter degree resolution and timevarying ECMWF winds, topographic form stress is the dominant process balancing the s...

Satellite altimetry has been used to derive information about sea ice thickness in the Arctic already for several decades. As part of the algorithms applied the shape of the radar signal is used to identify leads, the open water between ice floes. Analysis of airborne altimeter data reveals that the waveform shape can additionally be used to identify different sea ice types. In this study we an...

ork is described whose long-term goal is the extraction and analysis of fine-scale wind fields from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the ocean surface. Results are based on a field experiment in which a SAR image was taken nearly simultaneously with in situ aircraft-based turbulence and radar altimeter measurements. These results show a direct correlation between SAR “streaks” and atmos...

Over the past 18 months, a pilot system has been developed which has generated global lake and river level measurements from the Envisat RA-2. These data are produced within 3-5 days of measurement, using retracked Level 1B altimeter echoes merged with data from the IGDR to obtain both orbit and atmospheric/instrument corrections. A global version of this system has now been in operation for ov...

Coupled ocean wave and circulation models have been implemented under the IOEPAS program (Integrated Ocean Environment Prediction and Assimilation System). The third generation wave model, WAM and the South East Asian Ocean Model (SEAOM) based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) are coupled through wave-current interaction terms. The modeling capability has been improved from the altimeter data ...

The measurement of the range (or actually delay time) performed by an altimeter is affected by the delay of the ionosphere. This delay is in turn dependent on the frequency used. One of the major innovations of RA-2 is the second channel, at S-band (3.2 GHz), that provides the altimeter with the ionospheric correction This paper describes the characteristics of the S-band channel in RA-2, the u...