Open AccessSea Surface Variability In the North Sea As Derived From Seasat Altimetry
Author(s) -
Oskam D.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1990.tb04562.x
Subject(s) - altimeter , geology , ocean surface topography , satellite altimetry , continental shelf , sea level , oceanography , sea surface height , climatology , geodesy
SUMMARY Global computations of sea surface variability from repeated altimeter measurements usually exclude the shallow waters of continental shelfs and (semi‐)enclosed seas, because in these areas global marine tide models used to correct the altimetry derived sea surface heights loose their significance. If the marine tide model of Schwiderski is used for the North Sea, the computed variability reaches up to 20‐50 cm towards the shores. With the use of dedicated regional hydrodynamic models from the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat or the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, the computed variability decreases to ± 10 cm towards the shores. These much more realistic values also show the potential of altimetry to control these kind of regional models.