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Exploiting the potential of an improved multimission altimetric data set over the coastal ocean
Author(s) -
Bouffard J.,
Vignudelli S.,
Cipollini P.,
Menard Y.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl033488
Subject(s) - altimeter , sea surface height , geology , geostrophic current , satellite , satellite altimetry , significant wave height , ocean surface topography , data set , geodesy , remote sensing , geostrophic wind , climatology , oceanography , wind wave , statistics , mathematics , aerospace engineering , engineering
Until now, most satellite altimetry studies of the coastal ocean have been based on along‐track data from a single mission, whereas up to four missions were operative in 2002–2005. Here, to monitor the coastal ocean we have applied specialized corrections and dedicated processing strategies to compute a multimission data set at a mean distance of 32 km of the coast. The resulting altimetric data set is compared with sea level data from three in situ stations over a coastal zone of the northwestern Mediterranean. The mean rms difference between this data set and the sea level stations is 2.9 cm against 3.7 cm when using the AVISO altimetric product. Comparison of altimeter‐derived geostrophic velocities with a mooring also shows that the spatial and temporal variability of the surface current field is well reproduced. The agreement with in situ measurements extends to intraseasonal time scales showing a significant improvement compared to previous studies in the 50 km coastal‐band.