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Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2018) | Viewed by 154778

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Frédéric Frappart

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère, UMR 1391 INRAE/Bordeaux Science Agro 71, Avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33882 Villenave d'Ornon, France
Interests: remote sensing; water cycle; carbon cycle; wetlands
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ole Andersen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DTU SPACE, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej, Building 328, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Interests: marine geophysics; oceanography; hydrology and surface water storage; fresh water flux; height system; geoid; gravity; bathymetry
Dr. Sergey Lebedev

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Molodezhnaya St. 3, 119296 Moscow, Russia
Interests: regional and global climatic change; the Caspian Sea level and dynamic; water level of rivers, lakes and reservoirs; gravity field
Dr. Guillaume Ramillien

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS/IRD/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
Interests: marine geophysics; oceanography; hydrology and surface water storage; fresh water flux; height system; geoid; gravity; bathymetry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Satellite altimetry is a radar technique for measuring the topography of the Earth’s surface. It was initially designed for measuring the ocean’s topography, with reference to an ellipsoid, and for the determination of the marine geoid. Satellite altimetry has provided extremely valuable information on ocean science (e.g., circulation surface geostrophic currents, eddy structures, wave heights, and the propagation of oceanic Kelvin and Rossby waves). With more than 25 years of observations, it is also becoming vital to climate research, providing accurate measurements of sea level variations from regional to global scales. Altimetry has also demonstrated a strong potential for geophysical, cryospheric and hydrological research, and is now commonly used for the monitoring of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheet topography, and of terrestrial surface water levels. This Special Issue aims to present reviews and recent advances of general interest in the use of radar altimetry in Earth sciences. Manuscripts can be related to any aspect of radar altimetry technique or geophysical applications. We also encourage manuscript resulting from application of new altimetric technology (SAR, SARin and Ka band) and improvements expected from missions to launched in the close future (i.e., SWOT).

Dr. Frederic Frappart
Dr. Ole Andersen
Dr. Sergey Lebedev
Dr. Guillaume Ramillien
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (22 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 743 KiB  
Article
Lead Detection in Polar Oceans—A Comparison of Different Classification Methods for Cryosat-2 SAR Data
by Denise Dettmering, Alan Wynne, Felix L. Müller, Marcello Passaro and Florian Seitz
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1190; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081190 - 28 Jul 2018
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5019
Abstract
In polar regions, sea-ice hinders the precise observation of Sea Surface Heights (SSH) by satellite altimetry. In order to derive reliable heights for the openings within the ice, two steps have to be fulfilled: (1) the correct identification of water (e.g., in leads [...] Read more.
In polar regions, sea-ice hinders the precise observation of Sea Surface Heights (SSH) by satellite altimetry. In order to derive reliable heights for the openings within the ice, two steps have to be fulfilled: (1) the correct identification of water (e.g., in leads or polynias), a process known as lead classification; and (2) dedicated retracking algorithms to extract the ranges from the radar echoes. This study focuses on the first point and aims at identifying the best available lead classification method for Cryosat-2 SAR data. Four different altimeter lead classification methods are compared and assessed with respect to very high resolution airborne imagery. These methods are the maximum power classifier; multi-parameter classification method primarily based on pulse peakiness; multi-observation analysis of stack peakiness; and an unsupervised classification method. The unsupervised classification method with 25 clusters consistently performs best with an overall accuracy of 97%. Furthermore, this method does not require any knowledge of specific ice characteristics within the study area and is therefore the recommended lead detection algorithm for Cryosat-2 SAR in polar oceans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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21 pages, 5612 KiB  
Article
The Drifting Phase of SARAL: Securing Stable Ocean Mesoscale Sampling with an Unmaintained Decaying Altitude
by Gérald Dibarboure, Alain Lamy, Marie-Isabelle Pujol and Ghita Jettou
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(7), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10071051 - 3 Jul 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4649
Abstract
The French/Indian altimeter project Satellite with ARGOS and AltiKa (SARAL) completed its nominal 3-year mission on the historical European Remote-sensing Satellite (ERS) orbit in Spring 2016. In order to extend the lifetime of the satellite as much as possible, the agencies in charge [...] Read more.
The French/Indian altimeter project Satellite with ARGOS and AltiKa (SARAL) completed its nominal 3-year mission on the historical European Remote-sensing Satellite (ERS) orbit in Spring 2016. In order to extend the lifetime of the satellite as much as possible, the agencies in charge of SARAL decided to initiate a so-called drifting phase where the satellite altitude is no longer maintained. In this paper we describe how the ocean mesoscale sampling capability of SARAL has been preserved during the drifting phase by initiating it at a specific altitude: the optimal starting point was approximately 1 km above the historical ERS/ENVIronment SATellite (ENVISAT) orbit. This strategy secured the ocean mesoscale sampling capability of SARAL drifting phase (DP) for 6 years or more. We also generalize these findings: any altimeter could follow SARAL’s drifting phase strategy if their maneuvering capability is limited. Lastly, we explain how an altimetry mission or an entire altimeter constellation could be operated without any form of altitude control: some specific altitude bands (e.g., near 1230 km) guarantee a high-quality mesoscale sampling for years or decades even if the altitude is not maintained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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27 pages, 7043 KiB  
Article
Evolution of the Performances of Radar Altimetry Missions from ERS-2 to Sentinel-3A over the Inner Niger Delta
by Cassandra Normandin, Frédéric Frappart, Adama Telly Diepkilé, Vincent Marieu, Eric Mougin, Fabien Blarel, Bertrand Lubac, Nadine Braquet and Abdramane Ba
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(6), 833; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10060833 - 25 May 2018
Cited by 68 | Viewed by 8259
Abstract
Radar altimetry provides unique information on water stages of inland hydro-systems. In this study, the performance of seven altimetry missions, among the most commonly used in land hydrology (i.e., European Remote-Sensing Satellite-2 (ERS-2), ENVIronment SATellite (ENVISAT), Satellite with Argos and ALtika (SARAL), Jason-1, [...] Read more.
Radar altimetry provides unique information on water stages of inland hydro-systems. In this study, the performance of seven altimetry missions, among the most commonly used in land hydrology (i.e., European Remote-Sensing Satellite-2 (ERS-2), ENVIronment SATellite (ENVISAT), Satellite with Argos and ALtika (SARAL), Jason-1, Jason-2, Jason-3 and Sentinel-3A), are assessed using records from a dense in situ network composed of 19 gauge stations in the Inner Niger Delta (IND) from 1995 to 2017. Results show an overall very good agreement between altimetry-based and in situ water levels with correlation coefficient (R) greater than 0.8 in 80% of the cases and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) lower than 0.4 m in 48% of cases. Better agreement is found for the recently launched missions such as SARAL, Jason-3 and Sentinel-3A than for former missions, indicating the advance of the use of the Ka-band for SARAL and of the Synthetic-aperture Radar (SAR) mode for Sentinel-3A. Cross-correlation analysis performed between water levels from the same altimetry mission leads to time-lags between the upstream and the downstream part of the Inner Niger Delta of around two months that can be related to the time residence of water in the drainage area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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19 pages, 5988 KiB  
Article
On the Desiccation of the South Aral Sea Observed from Spaceborne Missions
by Alka Singh, Ali Behrangi, Joshua B. Fisher and John T. Reager
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(5), 793; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10050793 - 19 May 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6871
Abstract
The South Aral Sea has been massively affected by the implementation of a mega-irrigation project in the region, but ground-based observations have monitored the Sea poorly. This study is a comprehensive analysis of the mass balance of the South Aral Sea and its [...] Read more.
The South Aral Sea has been massively affected by the implementation of a mega-irrigation project in the region, but ground-based observations have monitored the Sea poorly. This study is a comprehensive analysis of the mass balance of the South Aral Sea and its basin, using multiple instruments from ground and space. We estimate lake volume, evaporation from the lake, and the Amu Darya streamflow into the lake using strengths offered by various remote-sensing data. We also diagnose the attribution behind the shrinking of the lake and its possible future fate. Terrestrial water storage (TWS) variations observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission from the Aral Sea region can approximate water level of the East Aral Sea with good accuracy (1.8% normalized root mean square error (RMSE), and 0.9 correlation) against altimetry observations. Evaporation from the lake is back-calculated by integrating altimetry-based lake volume, in situ streamflow, and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) precipitation. Different evapotranspiration (ET) products (Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), the Water Gap Hydrological Model (WGHM)), and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Global Evapotranspiration Project (MOD16) significantly underestimate the evaporation from the lake. However, another MODIS based Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) ET estimate shows remarkably high consistency (0.76 correlation) with our estimate (based on the water-budget equation). Further, streamflow is approximated by integrating lake volume variation, PT-JPL ET, and GPCP datasets. In another approach, the deseasonalized GRACE signal from the Amu Darya basin was also found to approximate streamflow and predict extreme flow into the lake by one or two months. They can be used for water resource management in the Amu Darya delta. The spatiotemporal pattern in the Amu Darya basin shows that terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the central region (predominantly in the primary irrigation belt other than delta) has increased. This increase can be attributed to enhanced infiltration, as ET and vegetation index (i.e., normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) from the area has decreased. The additional infiltration might be an indication of worsening of the canal structures and leakage in the area. The study shows how altimetry, optical images, gravimetric and other ancillary observations can collectively help to study the desiccating Aral Sea and its basin. A similar method can be used to explore other desiccating lakes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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18 pages, 7264 KiB  
Article
3D Geostrophy and Volume Transport in the Southern Ocean
by María Isabel Vigo, David García-García, María Dolores Sempere and Ben F. Chao
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(5), 715; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10050715 - 5 May 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6763
Abstract
The 3D geostrophic currents and the associated volume transport (VT) can be estimated from the GOCE and Altimetry satellite data and in-situ temperature and salinity profiles measured by the Argo floats. We do so for the Southern Ocean between 20°S and 65°S with [...] Read more.
The 3D geostrophic currents and the associated volume transport (VT) can be estimated from the GOCE and Altimetry satellite data and in-situ temperature and salinity profiles measured by the Argo floats. We do so for the Southern Ocean between 20°S and 65°S with their time variability down to the depth of 1975 m (in 58 layers) over the 11-year period of 2004–2014. The results depict the Southern Ocean circulation where a zonal Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) interacts with a meridional thermohaline circulation. The VT reproduces the polar front and the subantarctic front of the ACC, as well as the large scale and mesoscale currents in the Southern Ocean. Our estimates for the Agulhas current and the East Australia currents are also quantitatively comparable with results from other approaches in the literature based on in-situ data. For ACC, the estimated VT at the Drake Passage is 185 Sv for the norm of the time average VT, or 202 Sv for the mean of the norms of the monthly VT, which are larger than previous estimations (ranging from 134 to 175 Sv). The estimate is potentially reconciled when only the zonal transport is considered (181 Sv). The Drake Passage total VT appears to be quite stable during the studied period, unlike its (dominant) zonal and meridional components which show higher variability that mostly compensate each other. The spatially averaged ACC VT shows per 1° width in the main stream a mean value of 29.6 Sv or 35.8 Sv (depending on the method used), an annual signal with an amplitude of 0.33 ± 0.06 Sv that peaks in early April, with no significant semi-annual signals nor linear trend. Water transports of barotropic and baroclinic origin have been isolated in the VT series showing that 75% of transport is barotropic and the remaining 25% baroclinic, while the variability and annual signal in the ACC is fully barotropic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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14 pages, 1444 KiB  
Article
Coastal Improvements for Tide Models: The Impact of ALES Retracker
by Gaia Piccioni, Denise Dettmering, Marcello Passaro, Christian Schwatke, Wolfgang Bosch and Florian Seitz
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(5), 700; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10050700 - 3 May 2018
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6123
Abstract
Since the launch of the first altimetry satellites, ocean tide models have been improved dramatically for deep and shallow waters. However, issues are still found for areas of great interest for climate change investigations: the coastal regions. The purpose of this study is [...] Read more.
Since the launch of the first altimetry satellites, ocean tide models have been improved dramatically for deep and shallow waters. However, issues are still found for areas of great interest for climate change investigations: the coastal regions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of the ALES coastal retracker on tide modeling in these regions with respect to a standard open ocean retracker. The approach used to compute the tidal constituents is an updated and along-track version of the Empirical Ocean Tide model developed at DGFI-TUM. The major constituents are derived from a least-square harmonic analysis of sea level residuals based on the FES2014 tide model. The results obtained with ALES are compared with the ones estimated with the standard product. A lower fitting error is found for the ALES solution, especially for distances closer than 20 km from the coast. In comparison with in situ data, the root mean squared error computed with ALES can reach an improvement larger than 2 cm at single locations, with an average impact of over 10% for tidal constituents K 2 , O 1 , and P 1 . For Q 1 , the improvement is over 25%. It was observed that improvements to the root-sum squares are larger for distances closer than 10 km to the coast, independently on the sea state. Finally, the performance of the solutions changes according to the satellite’s flight direction: for tracks approaching land from open ocean root mean square differences larger than 1 cm are found in comparison to tracks going from land to ocean. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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15 pages, 5082 KiB  
Article
Using Satellite Altimetry to Calibrate the Simulation of Typhoon Seth Storm Surge off Southeast China
by Xiaohui Li, Guoqi Han, Jingsong Yang, Dake Chen, Gang Zheng and Nan Chen
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(4), 657; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040657 - 23 Apr 2018
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6419
Abstract
Satellite altimeters can capture storm surges generated by typhoons and tropical storms, if the satellite flies over at the right time. In this study, we show TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter-observed storm surge features off Southeast China on 10 October 1994 during Typhoon Seth. We then [...] Read more.
Satellite altimeters can capture storm surges generated by typhoons and tropical storms, if the satellite flies over at the right time. In this study, we show TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter-observed storm surge features off Southeast China on 10 October 1994 during Typhoon Seth. We then use a three-dimensional, barotropic, finite-volume community ocean model (FVCOM) to simulate storm surges. An innovative aspect is that satellite data are used to calibrate the storm surge model to improve model performance, by adjusting model wind forcing fields (the National Center for Environment Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis product) in reference to the typhoon best-track data. The calibration reduces the along-track root-mean-square (RMS) difference between model and altimetric data from 0.15 to 0.10 m. It also reduces the RMS temporal difference from 0.21 to 0.18 m between the model results and independent tide-gauge data at Xiamen. In particular, the calibrated model produces a peak storm surge of 1.01 m at 6:00 10 October 1994 at Xiamen, agreeing with tide-gauge data; while the peak storm surge with the NCEP forcing is 0.71 m only. We further show that the interaction between storm surges and astronomical tides contributes to the peak storm surge by 34% and that the storm surge propagates southwestward as a coastally-trapped Kelvin wave. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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30 pages, 57020 KiB  
Article
SWOT Spatial Scales in the Western Mediterranean Sea Derived from Pseudo-Observations and an Ad Hoc Filtering
by Laura Gómez-Navarro, Ronan Fablet, Evan Mason, Ananda Pascual, Baptiste Mourre, Emmanuel Cosme and Julien Le Sommer
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(4), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040599 - 12 Apr 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7533
Abstract
The aim of this study is to assess the capacity of the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite to resolve fine scale oceanic surface features in the western Mediterranean. Using as input the Sea Surface Height (SSH) fields from a high-resolution Ocean General [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to assess the capacity of the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite to resolve fine scale oceanic surface features in the western Mediterranean. Using as input the Sea Surface Height (SSH) fields from a high-resolution Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM), the SWOT Simulator for Ocean Science generates SWOT-like outputs along a swath and the nadir following the orbit ground tracks. Given the characteristic temporal and spatial scales of fine scale features in the region, we examine temporal and spatial resolution of the SWOT outputs by comparing them with the original model data which are interpolated onto the SWOT grid. To further assess the satellite’s performance, we derive the absolute geostrophic velocity and relative vorticity. We find that instrument noise and geophysical error mask the whole signal of the pseudo-SWOT derived dynamical variables. We therefore address the impact of removal of satellite noise from the pseudo-SWOT data using a Laplacian diffusion filter, and then focus on the spatial scales that are resolved within a swath after this filtering. To investigate sensitivity to different filtering parameters, we calculate spatial spectra and root mean square errors. Our numerical experiments show that noise patterns dominate the spectral content of the pseudo-SWOT fields at wavelengths below 60 km. Application of the Laplacian diffusion filter allows recovery of the spectral signature within a swath down to the 40–60 km wavelength range. Consequently, with the help of this filter, we are able to improve the observation of fine scale oceanic features in pseudo-SWOT data, and in the estimation of associated derived variables such as velocity and vorticity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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23 pages, 64779 KiB  
Article
Impact of Surface Soil Moisture Variations on Radar Altimetry Echoes at Ku and Ka Bands in Semi-Arid Areas
by Christophe Fatras, Pierre Borderies, Frédéric Frappart, Eric Mougin, Denis Blumstein and Fernando Niño
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(4), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040582 - 9 Apr 2018
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4721
Abstract
Radar altimetry provides information on the topography of the Earth surface. It is commonly used for the monitoring not only sea surface height but also ice sheets topography and inland water levels. The radar altimetry backscattering coefficient, which depends on surface roughness and [...] Read more.
Radar altimetry provides information on the topography of the Earth surface. It is commonly used for the monitoring not only sea surface height but also ice sheets topography and inland water levels. The radar altimetry backscattering coefficient, which depends on surface roughness and water content, can be related to surface properties such as surface soil moisture content. In this study, the influence of surface soil moisture on the radar altimetry echo and backscattering coefficient is analyzed over semi-arid areas. A semi-empirical model of the soil’s complex dielectric permittivity that takes into account that small-scale roughness and large-scale topography was developed to simulate the radar echoes. It was validated using waveforms acquired at Ku and Ka-bands by ENVISAT RA-2 and SARAL AltiKa respectively over several sites in Mali. Correlation coefficients ranging from 0.66 to 0.94 at Ku-band and from 0.27 to 0.96 at Ka-band were found. The increase in surface soil moisture from 0.02 to 0.4 (i.e., the typical range of variations in semi-arid areas) increase the backscattering from 10 to 15 dB between the core of the dry and the maximum of the rainy seasons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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19 pages, 4601 KiB  
Article
HY-2A Altimeter Data Initial Assessment and Corresponding Two-Pass Waveform Retracker
by Shengjun Zhang, Jiancheng Li, Taoyong Jin and Defu Che
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(4), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040507 - 23 Mar 2018
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5308
Abstract
The accuracy and resolution of the marine gravity field derived from multisatellite altimeter data sets mainly depend on the corresponding range precision and spatial distribution. Here, we preliminarily investigate the performance of HY-2A altimeter data by analyzing cross-mission sea surface height discrepancies with [...] Read more.
The accuracy and resolution of the marine gravity field derived from multisatellite altimeter data sets mainly depend on the corresponding range precision and spatial distribution. Here, we preliminarily investigate the performance of HY-2A altimeter data by analyzing cross-mission sea surface height discrepancies with SARAL/AltiKa and calculating correlation coefficients with respect to tide gauge measurements. We also explore the improved range precision that can be achieved using a two-pass weighted least squares retracker which was proposed for the purpose of optimal gravity field recovery. Firstly, both the exact repetitive mission and the geodetic mission for HY-2A provide new track orientations and different data coverage for recovering the marine gravity field, and these dense geographical distributions are more greatly attributed to the geodetic mission in recent years. Secondly, HY-2A provides reliable sea surface height measurements based on exterior verifications by SARAL/AltiKa geophysical data records and tide gauge measurements, although the accuracy level is slightly lower than SARAL/AltiKa. Another more exciting finding is that the statistics of along-track sea surface heights in one-second intervals show that the two-pass retracking does further improve the range precision by a factor of 1.6 with respect to 20 Hz retracked results in sensor data records. In conclusion, the HY-2A mission can substantially improve the global accuracy and resolution of the marine gravity field and will reveal new tectonic features such as microplates, abyssal hill fabric, and new uncharted seamounts on the ocean floor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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29 pages, 25739 KiB  
Article
Independent Assessment of Sentinel-3A Wet Tropospheric Correction over the Open and Coastal Ocean
by Maria Joana Fernandes and Clara Lázaro
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(3), 484; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10030484 - 20 Mar 2018
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5711
Abstract
Launched on 16 February 2016, Sentinel-3A (S3A) carries a two-band microwave radiometer (MWR) similar to that of Envisat, and is aimed at the precise retrieval of the wet tropospheric correction (WTC) through collocated measurements using the Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter (SRAL) instrument. This [...] Read more.
Launched on 16 February 2016, Sentinel-3A (S3A) carries a two-band microwave radiometer (MWR) similar to that of Envisat, and is aimed at the precise retrieval of the wet tropospheric correction (WTC) through collocated measurements using the Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter (SRAL) instrument. This study aims at presenting an independent assessment of the WTC derived from the S3A MWR over the open and coastal ocean. Comparisons with other four MWRs show Root Mean Square (RMS) differences (cm) of S3A with respect to these sensors of 1.0 (Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager, GMI), 1.2 (Jason-2), 1.3 (Jason-3), and 1.5 (Satellite with ARgos and ALtika (SARAL)). The linear fit with respect to these MWR shows scale factors close to 1 and small offsets, indicating a good agreement between all these sensors. In spite of the short analysis period of 10 months, a stable temporal evolution of the S3A WTC has been observed. In line with the similar two-band instruments aboard previous European Space Agency (ESA) altimetric missions, strong ice and land contamination can be observed, the latter mainly found up to 20–25 km from the coast. Comparisons with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and an independent WTC derived only from third party data are also shown, indicating good overall performance. However, improvements in both the retrieval algorithm and screening of invalid MWR observations are desirable to achieve the quality of the equivalent WTC from Jason-3. The outcome of this study is a deeper knowledge of the measurement capabilities and limitations of the type of MWR aboard S3A and of the present WTC retrieval algorithms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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18 pages, 13447 KiB  
Article
Monitoring Water Levels and Discharges Using Radar Altimetry in an Ungauged River Basin: The Case of the Ogooué
by Sakaros Bogning, Frédéric Frappart, Fabien Blarel, Fernando Niño, Gil Mahé, Jean-Pierre Bricquet, Frédérique Seyler, Raphaël Onguéné, Jacques Etamé, Marie-Claire Paiz and Jean-Jacques Braun
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(2), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020350 - 24 Feb 2018
Cited by 75 | Viewed by 10934
Abstract
Radar altimetry is now commonly used for the monitoring of water levels in large river basins. In this study, an altimetry-based network of virtual stations was defined in the quasi ungauged Ogooué river basin, located in Gabon, Central Africa, using data from seven [...] Read more.
Radar altimetry is now commonly used for the monitoring of water levels in large river basins. In this study, an altimetry-based network of virtual stations was defined in the quasi ungauged Ogooué river basin, located in Gabon, Central Africa, using data from seven altimetry missions (Jason-2 and 3, ERS-2, ENVISAT, Cryosat-2, SARAL, Sentinel-3A) from 1995 to 2017. The performance of the five latter altimetry missions to retrieve water stages and discharges was assessed through comparisons against gauge station records. All missions exhibited a good agreement with gauge records, but the most recent missions showed an increase of data availability (only 6 virtual stations (VS) with ERS-2 compared to 16 VS for ENVISAT and SARAL) and accuracy (RMSE lower than 1.05, 0.48 and 0.33 and R² higher than 0.55, 0.83 and 0.91 for ERS-2, ENVISAT and SARAL respectively). The concept of VS is extended to the case of drifting orbits using the data from Cryosat-2 in several close locations. Good agreement was also found with the gauge station in Lambaréné (RMSE = 0.25 m and R2 = 0.96). Very good results were obtained using only one year and a half of Sentinel-3 data (RMSE < 0.41 m and R2 > 0.89). The combination of data from all the radar altimetry missions near Lamabréné resulted in a long-term (May 1995 to August 2017) and significantly improved water-level time series (R² = 0.96 and RMSE = 0.38 m). The increase in data sampling in the river basin leads to a better water level peak to peak characterization and hence to a more accurate annual discharge over the common observation period with only a 1.4 m3·s−1 difference (i.e., 0.03%) between the altimetry-based and the in situ mean annual discharge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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22 pages, 8284 KiB  
Article
Monitoring Sea Level and Topography of Coastal Lagoons Using Satellite Radar Altimetry: The Example of the Arcachon Bay in the Bay of Biscay
by Edward Salameh, Frédéric Frappart, Vincent Marieu, Alexandra Spodar, Jean-Paul Parisot, Vincent Hanquiez, Imen Turki and Benoit Laignel
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(2), 297; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020297 - 14 Feb 2018
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 7200
Abstract
Radar altimetry was initially designed to measure the marine geoid. Thanks to the improvement in the orbit determination from the meter to the centimeter level, this technique has been providing accurate measurements of the sea surface topography over the open ocean since the [...] Read more.
Radar altimetry was initially designed to measure the marine geoid. Thanks to the improvement in the orbit determination from the meter to the centimeter level, this technique has been providing accurate measurements of the sea surface topography over the open ocean since the launch of Topex/Poseidon in 1992. In spite of a decrease in the performance over land and coastal areas, it is now commonly used over these surfaces. This study presents a semi-automatic method that allows us to discriminate between acquisitions performed at high tides and low tides. The performances of four radar altimetry missions (ERS-2, ENVISAT, SARAL, and CryoSat-2) were analyzed for the retrieval of sea surface height and, for the very first time, of the intertidal zone topography in a coastal lagoon. The study area is the Arcachon Bay located in the Bay of Biscay. The sea level variability of the Arcachon Bay is characterized by a standard deviation of 1.05 m for the records used in this study (2001–2017). Sea surface heights are very well retrieved for SARAL (R~0.99 and RMSE < 0.23 m) and CryoSat-2 (R > 0.93 and RMSE < 0.42 m) missions but also for ENVISAT (R > 0.82 but with a higher RMSE >0.92 m). For the topography of the intertidal zone, very good estimates were also obtained using SARAL (R~0.71) and CryoSat-2 (R~0.79) with RMSE lower than 0.44 m for both missions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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25 pages, 5401 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Coastal Sea Level Offshore Hong Kong from Jason-2 Altimetry
by Xi-Yu Xu, Florence Birol and Anny Cazenave
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(2), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020282 - 12 Feb 2018
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6581
Abstract
As altimeter satellites approach coastal areas, the number of valid sea surface height measurements decrease dramatically because of land contamination. In recent years, different methodologies have been developed to recover data within 10–20 km from the coast. These include computation of geophysical corrections [...] Read more.
As altimeter satellites approach coastal areas, the number of valid sea surface height measurements decrease dramatically because of land contamination. In recent years, different methodologies have been developed to recover data within 10–20 km from the coast. These include computation of geophysical corrections adapted to the coastal zone and retracking of raw radar echoes. In this paper, we combine for the first time coastal geophysical corrections and retracking along a Jason-2 satellite pass that crosses the coast near the Hong-Kong tide gauge. Six years and a half of data are analyzed, from July 2008 to December 2014 (orbital cycles 1–238). Different retrackers are considered, including the ALES retracker and the different retrackers of the PISTACH products. For each retracker, we evaluate the quality of the recovered sea surface height by comparing with data from the Hong Kong tide gauge (located 10 km away). We analyze the impact of the different geophysical corrections available on the result. We also compute sea surface height bias and noise over both open ocean (>10 km away from coast) and coastal zone (within 10 km or 5 km coast-ward). The study shows that, in the Hong Kong area, after outlier removal, the ALES retracker performs better in the coastal zone than the other retrackers, both in terms of noise level and trend uncertainty. It also shows that the choice of the ocean tide solution has a great impact on the results, while the wet troposphere correction has little influence. By comparing short-term trends computed over the 2008.5–2014 time span, both in the coastal zone and in the open ocean (using the Climate Change Initiative sea level data as a reference), we find that the coastal sea level trend is about twice the one observed further offshore. It suggests that in the Hong Kong region, the short-term sea level trend significantly increases when approaching the coast. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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32 pages, 29854 KiB  
Article
The Benefits of the Ka-Band as Evidenced from the SARAL/AltiKa Altimetric Mission: Scientific Applications
by Jacques Verron, Pascal Bonnefond, Lofti Aouf, Florence Birol, Suchandra A. Bhowmick, Stéphane Calmant, Taina Conchy, Jean-François Crétaux, Gérald Dibarboure, A. K. Dubey, Yannice Faugère, Kevin Guerreiro, P. K. Gupta, Mathieu Hamon, Fatma Jebri, Raj Kumar, Rosemary Morrow, Ananda Pascual, Marie-Isabelle Pujol, Elisabeth Rémy, Frédérique Rémy, Walter H. F. Smith, Jean Tournadre and Oscar Vergaraadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(2), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020163 - 24 Jan 2018
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 8939
Abstract
The India–France SARAL/AltiKa mission is the first Ka-band altimetric mission dedicated primarily to oceanography. The mission objectives were firstly the observation of the oceanic mesoscales but also global and regional sea level monitoring, including the coastal zone, data assimilation, and operational oceanography. SARAL/AltiKa [...] Read more.
The India–France SARAL/AltiKa mission is the first Ka-band altimetric mission dedicated primarily to oceanography. The mission objectives were firstly the observation of the oceanic mesoscales but also global and regional sea level monitoring, including the coastal zone, data assimilation, and operational oceanography. SARAL/AltiKa proved also to be a great opportunity for inland waters applications, for observing ice sheet or icebergs, as well as for geodetic investigations. The mission ended its nominal phase after three years in orbit and began a new phase (drifting orbit) in July 2016. The objective of this paper is to highlight some of the most remarkable achievements of the SARAL/AltiKa mission in terms of scientific applications. Compared to the standard Ku-band altimetry measurements, the Ka-band provides substantial improvements in terms of spatial resolution and data accuracy. We show here that this leads to remarkable advances in terms of observation of the mesoscale and coastal ocean, waves, river water levels, ice sheets, icebergs, fine scale bathymetry features as well as for the many related applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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21 pages, 12330 KiB  
Article
Multi-Satellite Altimeter Validation along the French Atlantic Coast in the Southern Bay of Biscay from ERS-2 to SARAL
by Phuong Lan Vu, Frédéric Frappart, José Darrozes, Vincent Marieu, Fabien Blarel, Guillaume Ramillien, Pascal Bonnefond and Florence Birol
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010093 - 11 Jan 2018
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 7440
Abstract
Monitoring changes in coastal sea levels is necessary given the impacts of climate change. Information on the sea level and its changes are important parameters in connection to climate change processes. In this study, radar altimetry data from successive satellite missions, European Remote [...] Read more.
Monitoring changes in coastal sea levels is necessary given the impacts of climate change. Information on the sea level and its changes are important parameters in connection to climate change processes. In this study, radar altimetry data from successive satellite missions, European Remote Sensing-2 (ERS-2), Jason-1, Envisat, Jason-2, and Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa (SARAL), were used to measure sea surface heights (SSH). Altimetry-derived SSH was validated for the southern Bay of Biscay, using records from seven tide gauges located along the French Atlantic coast. More detailed comparisons were performed at La Rochelle, as this was the only tide gauge whose records covered the entire observation period for the different radar altimetry missions. The results of the comparison between the altimetry-based and in-situ SSH, recorded from zero to five kilometers away from the coast, had root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.08 m to 0.21 m, 0.17 m to 0.34 m, 0.1 m to 0.29 m, 0.18 m to 0.9 m, and 0.22 m to 0.89 m for SARAL, Jason-2, Jason-1, ENVISAT, and ERS-2, respectively. Comparing the missions on the same orbit, ENVISAT had better results than ERS-2, which can be accounted for by the improvements in the sensor mode of operation, whereas the better results obtained using SARAL are related to the first-time use of the Ka-band for an altimetry sensor. For Jason-1 and Jason-2, improvements were found in the ocean retracking algorithm (MLE-4 against MLE-3), and also in the bi-frequency ionosphere and radiometer wet troposphere corrections. Close to the shore, the use of model-based ionosphere (GIM) and wet troposphere (ECMWF) corrections, as applied to land surfaces, reduced the error on the SSH estimates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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14 pages, 10313 KiB  
Article
Calibrating the SAR SSH of Sentinel-3A and CryoSat-2 over the Corsica Facilities
by Pascal Bonnefond, Olivier Laurain, Pierre Exertier, François Boy, Thierry Guinle, Nicolas Picot, Sylvie Labroue, Matthias Raynal, Craig Donlon, Pierre Féménias, Tommaso Parrinello and Salvatore Dinardo
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010092 - 11 Jan 2018
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6443
Abstract
Initially developed to monitor the performance of TOPEX/Poseidon and to follow the Jason legacy satellite altimeters at Senetosa Cape, Corsica, this calibration/validation site has been extended to include a new location at Ajaccio. This addition enables the site to monitor Envisat and ERS [...] Read more.
Initially developed to monitor the performance of TOPEX/Poseidon and to follow the Jason legacy satellite altimeters at Senetosa Cape, Corsica, this calibration/validation site has been extended to include a new location at Ajaccio. This addition enables the site to monitor Envisat and ERS missions, CryoSat-2 and, more recently, the SARAL/AltiKa mission and Sentinel-3A satellites. Sentinel-3A and CryoSat-2 carry altimeters that use a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mode that is different to the conventional pulse-bandwidth limited altimeters often termed “low resolution mode” (LRM). The aim of this study is to characterize the sea surface height (SSH) bias of the new SAR altimeter instruments and to demonstrate the improvement of data quality close to the coast. Moreover, some passes of Sentinel-3A and CryoSat-2 overfly both Senetosa and Ajaccio with only a few seconds time difference, allowing us to evaluate the reliability and homogeneity of both ground sites in term of geodetic datum. The Sentinel-3A and CryoSat-2 SSH biases for the SAR mode are respectively +22 ± 7 mm and −73 ± 5 mm (for CryoSat-2 baseline C products). The results show that the stability of the SAR SSH bias time series is better than standard LRM altimetry. Moreover, compared to standard LRM data, for which the measurements closer than ~10 km from the coast were generally unusable, SAR mode altimeters provide measurements that are reliable at less than few hundred meters from the coast. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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26 pages, 15119 KiB  
Article
The Benefits of the Ka-Band as Evidenced from the SARAL/AltiKa Altimetric Mission: Quality Assessment and Unique Characteristics of AltiKa Data
by Pascal Bonnefond, Jacques Verron, Jérémie Aublanc, K. N. Babu, Muriel Bergé-Nguyen, Mathilde Cancet, Aditya Chaudhary, Jean-François Crétaux, Frédéric Frappart, Bruce J. Haines, Olivier Laurain, Annabelle Ollivier, Jean-Christophe Poisson, Pierre Prandi, Rashmi Sharma, Pierre Thibaut and Christopher Watson
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010083 - 9 Jan 2018
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 8920
Abstract
The India-France SARAL/AltiKa mission is the first Ka-band altimetric mission dedicated to oceanography. The mission objectives are primarily the observation of the oceanic mesoscales but also include coastal oceanography, global and regional sea level monitoring, data assimilation, and operational oceanography. The mission ended [...] Read more.
The India-France SARAL/AltiKa mission is the first Ka-band altimetric mission dedicated to oceanography. The mission objectives are primarily the observation of the oceanic mesoscales but also include coastal oceanography, global and regional sea level monitoring, data assimilation, and operational oceanography. The mission ended its nominal phase after 3 years in orbit and began a new phase (drifting orbit) in July 2016. The objective of this paper is to provide a state of the art of the achievements of the SARAL/AltiKa mission in terms of quality assessment and unique characteristics of AltiKa data. It shows that the AltiKa data have similar accuracy at the centimeter level in term of absolute water level whatever the method (from local to global) and the type of water surfaces (ocean and lakes). It shows also that beyond the fact that AltiKa data quality meets the expectations and initial mission requirements, the unique characteristics of the altimeter and the Ka-band offer unique contributions in fields that were previously not fully foreseen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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3764 KiB  
Article
River Levels Derived with CryoSat-2 SAR Data Classification—A Case Study in the Mekong River Basin
by Eva Boergens, Karina Nielsen, Ole Baltazar Andersen, Denise Dettmering and Florian Seitz
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(12), 1238; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9121238 - 30 Nov 2017
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5975
Abstract
In this study we use CryoSat-2 SAR (delay-Doppler synthetic-aperture radar) data in the Mekong River Basin to estimate water levels. Compared to classical pulse limited radar altimetry, medium- and small-sized inland waters can be observed with CryoSat-2 SAR data with a higher accuracy [...] Read more.
In this study we use CryoSat-2 SAR (delay-Doppler synthetic-aperture radar) data in the Mekong River Basin to estimate water levels. Compared to classical pulse limited radar altimetry, medium- and small-sized inland waters can be observed with CryoSat-2 SAR data with a higher accuracy due to the smaller along track footprint. However, even with this SAR data the estimation of water levels over a medium-sized river (width less than 500 m) is still challenging with only very few consecutive observations over the water. The target identification with land–water masks tends to fail as the river becomes smaller. Therefore, we developed a classification approach to divide the observations into water and land returns based solely on the data. The classification is done with an unsupervised classification algorithm, and it is based on features derived from the SAR and range-integrated power (RIP) waveforms. After the classification, classes representing water and land are identified. Better results are obtained when the Mekong River Basin is divided into different geographical regions: upstream, middle stream, and downstream. The measurements classified as water are used in a next step to estimate water levels for each crossing over a river in the Mekong River network. The resulting water levels are validated and compared to gauge data, Envisat data, and CryoSat-2 water levels derived with a land–water mask. The CryoSat-2 water levels derived with the classification lead to more valid observations with fewer outliers in the upstream region than with a land–water mask (1700 with 2% outliers vs. 1500 with 7% outliers). The median of the annual differences that is used in the validation is in all test regions smaller for the CryoSat-2 classification results than for Envisat or CryoSat-2 land–water mask results (for the entire study area: 0.76 m vs. 0.96 m vs. 0.83 m, respectively). Overall, in the upstream region with small- and medium-sized rivers the classification approach is more effective for deriving reliable water level observations than in the middle stream region with wider rivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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5739 KiB  
Article
Improving Jason-2 Sea Surface Heights within 10 km Offshore by Retracking Decontaminated Waveforms
by Zhengkai Huang, Haihong Wang, Zhicai Luo, C. K. Shum, Kuo-Hsin Tseng and Bo Zhong
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(10), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9101077 - 23 Oct 2017
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6846
Abstract
It is widely believed that altimetry-derived sea surface heights (SSHs) in coastal zones are seriously degraded due to land contamination in altimeter waveforms from non-marine surfaces or due to inhomogeneous sea state conditions. Spurious peaks superimposed in radar waveforms adversely impact waveform retracking [...] Read more.
It is widely believed that altimetry-derived sea surface heights (SSHs) in coastal zones are seriously degraded due to land contamination in altimeter waveforms from non-marine surfaces or due to inhomogeneous sea state conditions. Spurious peaks superimposed in radar waveforms adversely impact waveform retracking and hence require tailored algorithms to mitigate this problem. Here, we present an improved method to decontaminate coastal waveforms based on the waveform modification concept. SSHs within 10 km offshore are calculated from Jason-2 data by a 20% threshold retracker using decontaminated waveforms (DW-TR) and compared with those using original waveforms and modified waveforms in four study regions. We then compare our results with retracked SSHs in the sensor geophysical data record (SGDR) and with the state-of-the-art PISTACH (Prototype Innovant de Système de Traitement pour les Applications Côtières et l’Hydrologie) and ALES (Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform) products. Our result indicates that the DW-TR is the most robust retracker in the 0–10 km coastal band and provides consistent accuracy up to 1 km away from the coastline. In the four test regions, the DW-TR retracker outperforms other retrackers, with the smallest averaged standard deviations at 15 cm and 20 cm, as compared against the EGM08 (Earth Gravitational Model 2008) geoid model and tide gauge data, respectively. For the SGDR products, only the ICE retracker provides competitive SSHs for coastal applications. Subwaveform retrackers such as ICE3, RED3 and ALES perform well beyond 8 km offshore, but seriously degrade in the 0–8 km strip along the coast. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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8643 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Satellite-Altimetry-Derived Pycnocline Depth Products in the South China Sea
by Yingying Chen, Kai Yu, Changming Dong, Zhigang He, Yunwei Yan and Dongxiao Wang
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(8), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9080822 - 12 Aug 2017
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7552
Abstract
The climatological monthly gridded World Ocean Atlas 2013 temperature and salinity data and satellite altimeter sea level anomaly data are used to build two altimeter-derived high-resolution real-time upper layer thickness products based on a highly simplified two-layer ocean model of the South China [...] Read more.
The climatological monthly gridded World Ocean Atlas 2013 temperature and salinity data and satellite altimeter sea level anomaly data are used to build two altimeter-derived high-resolution real-time upper layer thickness products based on a highly simplified two-layer ocean model of the South China Sea. One product uses the proportional relationship between the sea level anomaly and upper layer thickness anomaly. The other one adds a modified component ( η M ′ ) to account for the barotropic and thermodynamic processes that are neglected in the former product. The upper layer thickness, in this work, represents the depth of the main pycnocline, which is defined as the thickness from the sea surface to the 25 kg/m3 isopycnal depth. The mean upper layer thickness in the semi-closed South China Sea is ~120 m and the mean reduced gravity is ~0.073 m/s2, which is about one order of magnitude larger than the value obtained in the open deep ocean. The long-term temperature observations from three moored buoys, the conductivity-temperature-depth profiles from three joint cruises, and the Argo measurements from 2006 to 2015 are used to compare and evaluate these two upper layer thickness products. It shows that adding the η M ′ component is necessary to simulate the upper layer thickness in some situations, especially in summer and fall in the northern South China Sea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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7025 KiB  
Article
Monitoring the Arctic Seas: How Satellite Altimetry Can Be Used to Detect Open Water in Sea-Ice Regions
by Felix L. Müller, Denise Dettmering, Wolfgang Bosch and Florian Seitz
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(6), 551; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060551 - 1 Jun 2017
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7799
Abstract
Open water areas surrounded by sea ice significantly influence the ocean-ice-atmosphere interaction and contribute to Arctic climate change. Satellite altimetry can detect these ice openings and enables one to estimate sea surface heights and further altimetry data derived products. This study introduces an [...] Read more.
Open water areas surrounded by sea ice significantly influence the ocean-ice-atmosphere interaction and contribute to Arctic climate change. Satellite altimetry can detect these ice openings and enables one to estimate sea surface heights and further altimetry data derived products. This study introduces an innovative, unsupervised classification approach for detecting open water areas in the Greenland Sea based on high-frequency data from Envisat and SARAL. Altimetry radar echoes, also called waveforms, are analyzed regarding different surface conditions. Six waveform features are defined to cluster radar echoes into different groups indicating open water and sea ice waveforms. Therefore, the partitional clustering algorithm K-medoids and the memory-based classification method K-nearest neighbor are employed, yielding an internal misclassification error of about 2%. A quantitative comparison with several SAR images reveals a consistency rate of 76.9% for SARAL and 70.7% for Envisat. These numbers strongly depend on the quality of the SAR images and the time lag between the measurements of both techniques. For a few examples, a consistency rate of more than 90% and a true water detection rate of 94% can be demonstrated. The innovative classification procedure can be used to detect water areas with different spatial extents and can be applied to all available pulse-limited altimetry datasets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Altimetry for Earth Sciences)
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