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The Future of Coastal Altimetry

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Coastal Altimetry

Abstract

Conventional ocean-viewing radar altimeters (RA) have inherent limitations that become especially apparent when considering applications in the coastal environment. This chapter looks at three new technologies, two of which are to be on forthcoming missions: the delay-Doppler (or SAR mode) altimeter, to be embarked on CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3, and Alti-Ka, on India’s SARAL mission (previously Oceansat-3). These instruments are nadir-viewing, each featuring a smaller footprint, improved tracking, and finer measurement precision. Wide swath techniques also are reviewed, represented by KaRIn. That concept offers altimetric coverage over an area that extends nominally 80 km to both sides of its nadir track. Relative to coastal applications, all three approaches have their respective advantages and limitations, highlighted in the discussion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Chapter by Benveniste, this volume.

  2. 2.

    See Chapter by Dufau et al., this volume.

  3. 3.

    See Chapter by Ray et al., this volume.

  4. 4.

    See Chapter by Benveniste, this volume.

  5. 5.

    By international spectral allocation agreements, this bandwidth is the largest available for space-based earth observation at Ka-band.

  6. 6.

    If Eq. 20.3 is recast in terms of temporal range resolution τ, the resulting expression is equivalent to the classic form, except for Walsh’s Earth curvature term 1/a (Eq. 20.2). Walsh introduced that factor to scale spacecraft velocity V into the surface footprint velocity, which was not a correct rendition of the underlying physics.

  7. 7.

    From this point of view, the PRF upper bound may be seen as the obverse of the Nyquist sampling criterion, which states that to assure pulse-to-pulse correlation the sampling rate must be larger than the bandwidth of the (complex) spectrum being sampled.

  8. 8.

    http://earth.esa.int/raies

  9. 9.

    See Chapter by Gommenginger et al., this volume.

  10. 10.

    http://www.coastalt.eu/pisaworkshop08/pres/07-Phalippou_Pise_Coastal_Workshop_Nov_08.pdf

Abbreviations

CTE:

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

DDA:

Delay-Doppler Altimeter

DEM:

Digital Elevation Model

DORIS:

Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite

EM:

ElectroMagnetic

FFT:

Fast Fourier Transform

GAMBLE:

Global Altimeter Measurements By Leading Europeans

JPL:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

KaRIN:

Ka-band Radar INterferometer

KaSOARI:

Ka-band Swath Ocean Altimetry with Radar Interferometry

POD:

Precision Orbit Determination

PRF:

Pulse-Repetition Frequency

RA:

Conventional non-coherent Radar Altimeter

RAR:

Real Aperture Radar

SAR:

Synthetic Aperture Radar

SARAL:

Satellite with ARgos and ALtika

SIRAL-2:

SAR/Interferometric Radar ALtimeter

SRTM:

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

SRAL:

SAR Radar ALtimeter

SSH:

Sea Surface Height

SWH:

Significant Wave Height

SWOT:

Surface Water and Ocean Topography

WITTEX:

Water Inclination Topography and Technology EXperiment

WS:

Wind Speed

WSOA:

Wide Swath Ocean Altimeter

WVR:

Water-Vapor Radiometer

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, 20723, Maryland, USA

    R. K. Raney

  2. Observation System and Radar Unit, Thales Alenia Space, 31037, Toulouse, Cedex 1, France

    L. Phalippou

Authors
  1. R. K. Raney
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  2. L. Phalippou
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Correspondence to R. K. Raney .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ist. Biofisica, CNR Pisa, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa, 56124, Italy

    Stefano Vignudelli

  2. , P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky Pr. 36, Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation

    Andrey G. Kostianoy

  3. Lab. Satellite Oceanography, Ocean Observing & Climate Res. Group, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom

    Paolo Cipollini

  4. Directorate of Earth Observation Program, European Space Agency /ESRIN, Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Roma), 00044, Italy

    Jérôme Benveniste

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Raney, R.K., Phalippou, L. (2011). The Future of Coastal Altimetry. In: Vignudelli, S., Kostianoy, A., Cipollini, P., Benveniste, J. (eds) Coastal Altimetry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12796-0_20

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