Satellite Altimetry And Earth Sciences

The new level of precision and global coverage provided by satellite altimetry is rapidly advancing studies of ocean circulation. It allows for new insights into marine geodesy, ice sheet movements, plate tectonics, and for the first time provides high-resolution bathymetry for previously unmapped regions of our watery planet and crucial information on the large-scale ocean features on intra-season to interannual time scales. Satellite Altimetry and Earth Sciences has integrated the expertise of the leading international researchers to demonstrate the techniques, missions, and accuracy of satellite altimetry, including altimeter measurements, orbit determination, and ocean circulation models. Satellite altimetry is helping to advance studies of ocean circulation, tides, sea level, surface waves and allowing new insights into marine geodesy. Satellite Altimetry and Earth Sciences provides high resolution bathymetry for previously unmapped regions of our watery planet. Satellite Altimetry and Earth Sciences is for a very broad spectrum of academics, graduate students, and researchers in geophysics, oceanography, and the space and earth sciences. International agencies that fund satellite-based research will also appreciate the handy reference on the applications of satellite altimetry.

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 book aims to present reviews and recent advances of general interest in the use of radar altimetry in Earth sciences. Manuscripts are related to any aspect of radar altimetry technique or geophysical applications. We also encourage manuscripts resulting from the application of new altimetric technology (SAR, SARin, and Ka band) and improvements expected from missions to be launched in the near future (i.e., SWOT).

A satellite altimeter calculates the time taken by a short electromagnetic pulse for completing a round trip. This electromagnetic pulse is emitted from an orbiting spacecraft towards the planetary body and is reflected-off its surface. This instrument also measures the height of the satellite from the surface of the planet. Satellite altimetry can be used to obtain useful data related to ocean science. It also provides novel insights into plate tectonics, marine geodesy, ice sheet movements, high-resolution bathymetry for unmapped areas of the Earth's surface, and essential data on large-scale features of oceans. The data from satellite altimetry can be utilized to calculate the gravitational field of the Earth over oceans. This book unfolds the innovative aspects of satellite altimetry and its applications in Earth sciences, which will be crucial for the progress of this field in the future. It presents researches that have transformed this discipline and have aided its advancement. Researchers and students in the field of Earth sciences will be assisted by this book.

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 book aims to present reviews and recent advances of general interest in the use of radar altimetry in Earth sciences. Manuscripts are related to any aspect of radar altimetry technique or geophysical applications. We also encourage manuscripts resulting from the application of new altimetric technology (SAR, SARin, and Ka band) and improvements expected from missions to be launched in the near future (i.e., SWOT).

This volume covers a broad range of altimetry applications, including marine gravity and geoid, sea level change, ocean tide modeling, ocean circulations, marine plate tectonics, mesoscale eddies and bathymetry predictions. Virtually all disciplines of earth sciences are touched upon through the technique of satellite altimetry. Readers will find useful data processing techniques and novel applications of satellite altimetry, which otherwise are scattered in journals and special books.

Volume resulting from an ISSI Workshop, 11-15 March 2002, Bern, Switzerland

For the past three decades, it has been possible to measure the earth's static gravity from satellites. Such measurements have been used to address many important scientific problems, including the earth's internal structure, and geologically slow processes like mantle convection. In principle, it is possible to resolve the time-varying component of the gravity field by improving the accuracy of satellite gravity measurements. These temporal variations are caused by dynamic processes that change the mass distribution in the earth, oceans, and atmosphere. Acquisition of improved time-varying gravity data would open a new class of important scientific problems to analysis, including crustal motions associated with earthquakes and changes in groundwater levels, ice dynamics, sea-level changes, and atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. This book evaluates the potential for using satellite technologies to measure the time-varying component of the gravity field and assess the utility of these data for addressing problems of interest to the earth sciences, natural hazards, and resource communities.

The book content corresponds to a course of the International Summer School of Theoretical Geodesy held every 4 years under the sponsorship of the International Association of Geodesy. This particular course, that was given at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, has been dedicated to the theory of satellite altimetry as a response to the increasing need of scientific work in this field due to important recent and forthcoming space mission. The course was conceived to supply a good theoretical basis in both disciplines, i.e. geodesy and oceanography, which are deeply involved in the analysis and in the use of the altimetric signal. The main items of interest are the physical theory of ocean circulation, the theory of tides and the ocean time-variability, from the point of view of oceanography and the orbit theory, with particular regard to the formation of the radial orbital error, the so-called cross over adjustment, the analysis of geodetic boundary value problems, the integrated determination of the gravity field and of the radial orbital error, from the point of view of geodesy. All these arguments are treated from the foundation by very-well experts of the various fields, to introduce the reader into the more difficult subjects on which advanced research is currently performed. The peculiarity of the book is in its interdisciplinarity as it can serve to both communities of oceanographers and geodesists to get acquainted with advanced aspects one of the other.