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Retracking Altimeter Waveforms Near the Coasts

A Review of Retracking Methods and Some Applications to Coastal Waveforms

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Coastal Altimetry

Abstract

There has been considerable interest in the past few years in addressing some of the long-term technical difficulties associated with retrieving valid measurements from satellite altimeters in coastal areas, where high levels of human activities are putting increasing demand for information about sea level, wind and wave conditions. Developments of altimeter waveform retracking techniques, together with the now-established practice of giving users access to altimeter waveform data, has led to rapid progress in our understanding of the challenges posed by waveform shapes in the vicinity of land. In this chapter, we present observational evidence of the huge diversity and complexity of waveforms seen by contemporary altimeters in coastal areas. We proceed with a review of waveform retracking methods, examining first empirical methods, then so-called physically-based methods, including discussion of some of their implementation intricacies. We proceed with providing examples of the application of waveform retracking methods to coastal altimeter waveforms in coastal regions around the world. Finally, we explore some of the new ideas on how it may be possible to exploit prior knowledge, for example about the statistics or the along-track evolution of ocean properties in the coastal domain, to improve the estimation of geophysical parameters. Innovative schemes, such as iterative retracking or simultaneous batch retracking, are discussed as new ways to yield unbiased parameter estimation for land-contaminated waveforms much closer to the land/water interface than is currently possible.

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Abbreviations

BOR:

Brown Ocean Retracker

CLS:

Collecte Localisation Satellites

CNES:

Centre National d’Études Spatiales

COASTALT:

ESA development of COASTal ALTimetry

COG:

Centre Of Gravity

DEM:

Digital Elevation Model

DIODE:

Détermination Immédiate d’Orbite par Doris Embarqué

DORIS:

Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite

EGM:

Earth Gravitational Model

Envisat:

Environmental Satellite

ERS:

European Remote Sensing (satellites)

ESA:

European Space Agency

FSSR:

Flat Sea Surface Response

GDR:

Geophysical Data Record

Geosat:

GEOdetic SATellite

GFO:

Geosat Follow-On

GSFC:

Goddard Space Flight Center

LEP:

Leading Edge Position

MBS:

Mixed Brown Specular

MLE:

Maximum Likelihood Estimator

MMSE:

Minimum Mean Square Estimator

MSL:

Mean Sea Level

MT:

Median Tracker

NASA:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NOCS:

National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

OCOG:

Offset Centre Of Gravity

PDF:

Probability Density Function

PISTACH:

CNES Development of “Prototype Innovant de Système de Traitement pour les Applications Côtières et l’Hydrologie

PR:

Pulse Repetition Frequency

PTR:

Point Target Response

RMSE:

Root Mean Squared Error

SGT:

Split Gate Tracker

SSH:

Sea Surface Height

SWH:

Significant Wave Height

WLS:

Weighted Least Square

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom

    C. Gommenginger, G. Quartly & P. Challenor

  2. Collecte Localisation Satellites, 8-10 rue Hermès, Parc technologique du canal, 31520, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France

    P. Thibaut

  3. Institute of Physical Geodesy, Darmstadt University of Technology, Petersenstrasse 13, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    L. Fenoglio-Marc

  4. Centre for Climate Impact Management and School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

    X. Deng

  5. Applied Physics Department, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain

    J. Gómez-Enri

  6. College of Environment and Resources, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China

    Y. Gao

Authors
  1. C. Gommenginger
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  2. P. Thibaut
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  3. L. Fenoglio-Marc
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  4. G. Quartly
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  5. X. Deng
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  6. J. Gómez-Enri
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  7. P. Challenor
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  8. Y. Gao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Gommenginger .

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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Gommenginger, C. et al. (2011). Retracking Altimeter Waveforms Near the Coasts. 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_4

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