Satellite Radar Altimeters Measure Sea Surface Topography

From vantage points 1336 kilometers 830 miles above the earth jason 1 and ostm jason 2 can measure the height of the ocean surface directly underneath the satellite with an accuracy of about 3 centimeters just over 1 inch.

Satellite radar altimeters measure sea surface topography. This illustration of an altimetry satellite shows its orbit and its relationship to the sea surface geoid and seafloor. They provide precise measurements of a satellite s height above the ocean and if. The round trip travel time of microwave pulses bounced from the spacecraft to the sea surface and back to the spacecraft. The spacecrafts radar altimeters measure the precise distance between the satellite and sea surface.

A fathometer uses sonar or sound waves to measure the depth of the seafloor. Altimeters such as those on the topex poseidon satellite use radar or radio waves to bounce c. And sea surface topography with an altimeter. Bathymetry is measurement of the depth of the.

The satellite will fly two radar antennae at either end of a 10 meter mast allowing it to measure the elevation of the surface across a 120 km wide swath. These very accurate observations of variations in sea surface height also known as ocean topography provide information about global sea level the speed and direction of ocean currents and heat stored in the ocean. The new radar system is smaller but similar to the one that flew on nasa s shuttle radar topography mission which made high resolution measurements of earth s land surface in 2000. Radar altimeters are active sensors that use the ranging capability of radar to measure the surface topography profile along the satellite track.

In 1969 at the williamstown congress the feasibility of a new discipline as space oceanography by radar instrumentation was discussed. Radar altimeters are active sensors which use the ranging capability of radar to measure the surface topography profile along the satellite track. Satellite radar altimeters measure the ocean surface height sea level by measuring the time it takes a radar pulse to make a round trip from the satellite to the sea surface and back.