Instant Ebooks Textbook (Ebook PDF) Satellite Altimetry Over Oceans and Land Surfaces by Detlef Stammer Download All Chapters
Instant Ebooks Textbook (Ebook PDF) Satellite Altimetry Over Oceans and Land Surfaces by Detlef Stammer Download All Chapters
Instant Ebooks Textbook (Ebook PDF) Satellite Altimetry Over Oceans and Land Surfaces by Detlef Stammer Download All Chapters
com
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-
satellite-altimetry-over-oceans-and-land-surfaces-
by-detlef-stammer/
OR CLICK BUTTON
DOWLOAD EBOOK
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-land-law-themes-and-
perspectives/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-graphic-design-
solutions-5th-edition-by-robin-land/
https://ebooksecure.com/download/satellite-gravimetry-and-the-
solid-earth-mathematical-foundations-ebook-pdf/
https://ebooksecure.com/download/chemistry-of-functional-
materials-surfaces-and-interfaces-fundamentals-and-applications-
ebook-pdf/
(eBook PDF) Land Law 2nd Edition
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-land-law-2nd-edition/
https://ebooksecure.com/download/transportation-land-use-and-
environmental-planning-ebook-pdf/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-translational-medicine-
in-cns-drug-development-volume-29/
https://ebooksecure.com/download/progress-in-heterocyclic-
chemistry-ebook-pdf/
https://ebooksecure.com/download/satellite-soil-moisture-
retrieval-techniques-and-applications-ebook-pdf/
Contents vii
3.7 The Technology Revolution and the Future of Ocean Observations.............. 140
3.8 Outlook........................................................................................................... 140
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................... 140
References................................................................................................................. 141
Chapter 7 Monitoring and Interpreting the Tropical Oceans by Satellite Altimetry................ 231
Tong Lee, J. Thomas Farrar, Sabine Arnault, Benoit Meyssignac,
Weiqing Han, and Theodore Durland
7.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 231
7.2 Tropical Atlantic Ocean................................................................................. 232
7.2.1 Intraseasonal and Eddy Activities..................................................... 232
7.2.1.1 Eddy Structures ................................................................ 232
7.2.1.2 Tropical Instability Waves ................................................ 233
7.2.2 The Seasonal Cycle........................................................................... 233
7.2.3 Equatorial Waves............................................................................... 234
7.2.4 Interannual Variability...................................................................... 235
7.3 Tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean .......................................................................... 236
7.3.1 Tropical Pacific.................................................................................. 236
7.3.1.1 Intraseasonal Variability ................................................... 236
7.3.1.2 Seasonal Variability........................................................... 239
7.3.1.3 Interannual and Decadal Variability.................................244
7.3.2 Tropical Indian Ocean....................................................................... 249
7.3.2.1 Intraseasonal Variability.................................................... 249
7.3.2.2 Seasonal Cycle................................................................... 252
7.3.2.3 Interannual Variability...................................................... 253
7.3.2.4 Decadal and Multidecadal Changes.................................. 255
7.3.3 Indo-Pacific Linkage and Indonesian Throughflow ......................... 256
7.4 Summary........................................................................................................ 257
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................... 258
References................................................................................................................. 258
Chapter 12 Monitoring Waves and Surface Winds by Satellite Altimetry: Applications........... 381
Saleh Abdalla and Peter A. E. M. Janssen
12.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 381
12.2 The Altimeter and Its Ocean Measurements.................................................. 383
12.3 Altimeter Surface Wind Speed...................................................................... 386
12.3.1 Principle of Wind Speed Measurement............................................. 386
12.3.2 Quality of Altimeter Wind Speed Observations............................... 388
12.3.3 Benefits of Altimeter Wind Speed Observations.............................. 392
12.3.4 Altimeter Wind Speed Data and Problems....................................... 394
12.3.4.1 Effect of Slicks................................................................... 397
12.3.4.2 Neutral versus 10-m Winds............................................... 397
12.3.4.3 Sea State Effects................................................................ 398
12.3.5 Backscatter versus Mean Square Slope............................................. 399
12.3.6 Extreme Winds..................................................................................400
12.4 Significant Wave Height.................................................................................402
12.4.1 Principle of SWH Measurement.......................................................402
12.4.2 Quality of Altimeter SWH Data.......................................................402
12.5 Applications....................................................................................................406
12.5.1 Data Assimilation..............................................................................406
12.5.2 Estimation of Effective Model Resolution........................................ 413
12.5.3 Sea State Climatology....................................................................... 414
12.6 New Developments......................................................................................... 417
12.6.1 SAR (Delay-Doppler) Altimetry....................................................... 417
12.6.2 CFOSAT............................................................................................ 418
12.7 Concluding Remarks...................................................................................... 420
References................................................................................................................. 420
xii Contents
Chapter 15 Applications of Satellite Altimetry to Study the Antarctic Ice Sheet....................... 505
Frédérique Remy, Anthony Memin, and Isabella Velicogna
15.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 505
15.2 The Antarctica Ice Sheet................................................................................506
15.2.1 General Characteristics.....................................................................506
15.2.2 How to Observe the Evolution of the Ice Sheet ................................ 508
15.3 Polar Altimetry............................................................................................... 508
15.3.1 Some Specifics of Radar Altimetry on Ice Sheets............................ 508
15.3.2 Characteristics of Laser Altimetry on Ice Sheets ............................ 510
15.3.3 Methodology for Constructing Height Time Series.......................... 510
15.4 Contribution of Altimetry to Studying Antarctic Climate ............................ 511
15.5 Main Surface Characteristics of the Antarctic Ice Sheet............................... 511
15.5.1 Surface Topography.......................................................................... 512
15.5.2 Constraints for Numerical Models.................................................... 513
15.6 Temporal Variations....................................................................................... 514
15.6.1 Different Times and Signals.............................................................. 514
15.6.2 Lake Drainage................................................................................... 515
15.6.3 Firn Compaction ............................................................................... 515
15.6.4 Present-Day Mass Balance................................................................ 516
15.6.5 Acceleration of Outlet Glaciers......................................................... 517
15.7 Summary and Perspective ............................................................................. 518
References................................................................................................................. 519
Chapter 17 Ocean Modeling and Data Assimilation in the Context of Satellite Altimetry........ 547
Detlef Stammer and Stephen M. Griffies
17.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 547
17.1.1 Observational Oceanography and Ocean Circulation Modeling...... 547
17.1.2 The Need for Ocean Data Assimilation............................................ 548
17.1.3 Aims for This Chapter...................................................................... 548
17.2 Ocean General Circulation Models ............................................................... 548
17.2.1 The Hydrostatic Primitive Equations................................................ 548
17.2.2 Flux-Form Ocean Equations............................................................. 550
17.2.3 Basics of Finite Volume Discrete Ocean Equations.......................... 551
17.2.4 Oceanic Boussinesq Approximation................................................. 551
17.2.5 Ocean Responses to Virtual Salt Fluxes versus Real Water Fluxes.....552
17.2.6 Impacts from Changes to the Gravitational Geopotential................ 553
17.2.7 Fast and Slow Dynamics................................................................... 553
17.3 Sea Level Tendencies and Spatial Patterns.................................................... 555
17.3.1 Sea Level Tendencies and Mass Continuity...................................... 556
17.3.2 Non-Boussinesq Steric Effect and the Boussinesq Sea Level........... 556
17.3.3 Evolution of Global Mean Sea Level................................................. 557
17.3.3.1 Mass Conserving Non-Boussinesq Fluids......................... 557
17.3.3.2 Volume-Conserving Boussinesq Fluids............................ 558
17.3.4 Sea Level Tendencies and the Hydrostatic Balance.......................... 558
17.3.5 Sea Level Tendencies due to Mass Changes..................................... 559
17.3.6 Sea Level Tendencies due to Local Steric Changes.......................... 560
17.3.7 Sea Level Changes due to Applied Surface Loading........................ 560
17.3.8 Sea Level Gradients and Ocean Circulation..................................... 561
17.3.8.1 Surface Ocean.................................................................... 561
17.3.8.2 Full Ocean Column........................................................... 561
17.3.8.3 Barotropic Geostrophic Balance and Transport
through a Section............................................................... 562
17.4 Ocean Data Assimilation................................................................................ 562
17.4.1 Elements of Ocean Data Assimilation.............................................. 563
17.4.2 Some Details for Filtering Methods.................................................. 565
17.4.3 Smoother Methods............................................................................ 566
17.5 Applications with Respect to Altimetry......................................................... 567
17.5.1 Process Modeling.............................................................................. 567
17.5.2 Assimilation of Sea Level into Models............................................. 571
17.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks.............................................................. 574
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................... 574
References................................................................................................................. 574
Index...............................................................................................................................................609
Preface
Dear Reader:
With this book, we aim to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the satellite altimetry tech-
niques and related missions and to review recent applications with respect to ocean dynamics
(large- and small-scale circulation, ocean tides, waves, El Niño-Southern Oscillation [ENSO],
coastal processes, etc.) and to global and regional sea level change. The book also discusses
related, auxiliary, space-based, and in situ observations (e.g., space gravimetry, Argo data, or tide
gauges) as well as applications of satellite altimetry to the cryosphere, land surface waters, and
seafloor topography.
In one sense, this book is written to update the expert community about recent results. Most of
all, however, the book is designed as a textbook for students and researchers who are interested
in getting acquainted with satellite altimetry for the study of the Earth as well as a reference for a
graduate-level course of satellite altimetry. The style of each chapter provides the reader a broad
exposure to the subject from the basics to the state-of-the-art. Following a similar first book on
altimetry by Fu and Cazenave (2001), this new book provides an updated comprehensive descrip-
tion of the state-of-the-art technology, the historic developments of altimetry, and of ongoing sci-
entific applications to a variety of topics in Earth sciences. By introducing the techniques and by
providing a wide range of applications of satellite altimetry, this book also highlights the need for
collecting long-term records of key processes acting in the Earth system.
The ocean is a turbulent fluid showing variability from basin scale down to a few meters and on
time scales from a few minutes to climate time scales. Because of this, it requires the combination
of all in situ observing components with satellite remote sensing to observe the full ocean vari-
ability with global coverage. It is especially the satellite remote sensing that provides an all-season
full view of the surface ocean, globally and with a repeat cycle of just a few days. Because of this
unique observing capability, several ocean parameters are routinely monitored by a variety of space
sensors, such as sea surface temperature and salinity, surface winds and wave heights, ocean color,
ocean mass changes, and sea surface topography. In this list, satellite altimetry is unique in that it
is a technique that measures sea surface height and thereby the geometric shape of the sea surface
relative to a reference system.
The concept of the satellite altimetry measurement is simple: The onboard radar altimeter
transmits microwave radiation toward the sea surface, which partly reflects back to the satellite.
Measurement of the round-trip travel time provides the height of the satellite above the instanta-
neous sea surface (called “range”). The principal quantity of interest is the geometry of the sea
surface height above a reference fixed surface, typically a conventional reference ellipsoid. It is
obtained by the difference between the altitude of the satellite above the reference (deduced from
precise orbitography) and the measured range. The estimated sea surface height is further corrected
for a variety of factors due to atmospheric delay and biases between the mean electromagnetic (EM)
scattering surface and sea at the air–sea interface. Other environmental and geophysical corrections
are also applied (Fu and Cazenave 2001).
Measurements of the topography of the sea surface are important for oceanography and geod-
esy alike: One contribution to the measured sea surface shape originates from a (nearly) time-
invariable equipotential surface called the geoid (an equipotential surface of the Earth gravity
field), consisting of highs and lows of 1–100 m amplitude. Superimposed to the marine geoid are
contributions resulting from the time-mean and fluctuating ocean circulation. On spatial scales
roughly larger than 10 km, the ocean is in geostrophic balance, implying a relationship between
the sea surface slope relative to the geoid and ocean currents. The sea surface topography, there-
fore, is a dynamically unique parameter that provides unprecedented information about the upper
xvii
xviii Preface
ocean flow field, a long-standing goal of physical oceanographers for better understanding the
complex full-depth ocean circulation and its role in climate. Through its unique capability to map
the sea surface shape, even on an eddy and—in the future—a sub-eddy scale, it is an ideal system
for studying the mesoscale and sub-mesoscale component of the ocean circulation and its changes
in time.
Associated amplitudes in the measured sea surface deviation from the marine geoid are of the
order of ± 1 m around the globe for the time-mean circulation, with the largest changes across per-
manent frontal structures such as boundary currents. The time-variable component related to the
dynamics of the oceans (currents, tides, and so on) is even smaller and more in the range 0.1–0.5 m.
It is thus obvious that highest accuracy is required for a system that can be used for quantitative
ocean studies. It took the international community several decades to develop the altimetry system.
With its nowadays approximately 1-cm accuracy of sea surface height measurements and a stability
of approximately 1cm per decade, existing altimeter data time series have revolutionized the obser-
vation of the ocean. Measuring climate-related global mean sea level rise and associated regional
variability is the most demanding application of satellite altimetry because of the low signal level.
All sources of errors affecting the altimetry system need to be understood and reduced. At the time
of the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite launch in 1992, it was considered that this objective could not be
reachable. Yet subsequent improvements at all steps of altimetry data processing have allowed the
production of accurate sea level time series, now considered as one of the best indicators of climate
change and variability.
The first altimeter satellite, the Geodynamic Experimental Ocean Satellite (GEOS 3), was launched
in 1975 by NASA. Since then, other U.S. altimetry missions have flown with the purpose of studying
the oceans from space (e.g., the Seasat, 1978, and GEOSAT, 1985–1989). However, the uncertainty of
the position of these satellites in space (the orbital error) was large (several decimeters), so that detec-
tion of ocean dynamics phenomena was very difficult. In the early 1990s, the era of high-precision
altimetry began with the launch of the European satellite ERS-1 in 1991 and, especially, with the U.S./
French TOPEX/Poseidon mission in 1992. The accuracy of individual sea surface height measure-
ments from these missions and their successors (e.g., the Jason series, ERS-2, GEOSAT Follow-On
(GFO), Envisat, Sentinel-3, and SARAL/AltiKa) has now reached the 1-cm level, which is required to
obtain quantitative and—until then—unprecedented oceanographic information. This is the result of
substantial technological developments and model improvements involving international collabora-
tions of radar engineers, geodesists, geophysicists, and oceanographers as well as program managers.
Since about the 1990s, such a system has provided routine and continuous time series of precise altim-
etry with data being used in a wide range of scientific and operational applications.
Today, satellite altimetry is a mature technique and a generally accepted element of the
ocean and climate observing system with a long-planning horizon ahead through the European
Sentinel-3 Series and continued long-term involvement from the European Organization for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)—together with other space agencies—
in sustaining the Jason series with the development of the future Jason-CS/Sentinel 6 mission,
another component of the COPERNICUS European program. New technology such as the
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry already in orbit with the European CryoSat
satellite and the wide-swath altimetric interferometry under development with the U.S./French
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission (to be launched in 2021) will even fur-
ther expand and revolutionize the applications of altimetry over the ocean and land. Continuation
and maintenance of significant data records from satellite altimetry for the benefit of science and
society remains a pressing issue for the international science community as well as governmen-
tal organizations.
Ongoing applications of satellite altimetry cover a wider and ever-expanding range in oceanogra-
phy, geodesy, and geophysics as well as in terrestrial hydrology and cryospheric research. In detail,
satellite altimetry provides information about a variety of phenomena related to the internal structure
of the Earth, seafloor bathymetry and plate tectonics, ocean tides, large-scale ocean circulation and
Preface xix
eddies, waves, and sea level changes (the latter resulting from changes in ocean heat content and ocean
mass changes). Although designed to observe the oceans, satellite altimetry is also now currently used
to measure level variations of surface waters on land (lakes and rivers) and ice sheet elevation changes
in Greenland and Antarctica, thus offering invaluable information on land hydrology and glaciology.
The structure of the book is designed to cover all these subjects, with individual chapters dedicated to
individual themes.
Chapters 1 and 2 provide information on existing and new altimeter technology. Chapter 1
presents the basic principle of satellite altimetry and discusses in great detail the satellite orbit
and the various geophysical corrections that need to be applied to the altimetry measurement.
It also provides some historical information on the various altimetry missions launched during
the past few decades and on the evolution through time of the performances of the altimetry sys-
tem. Chapter 2 reviews the concept of wide-swath altimetry, derives the measurement error bud-
get for both ocean and surface water bodies, and also discusses science applications that require
this new technology.
Chapters 3 and 4 describe auxiliary data sets required to process and analyze satellite altimetry.
Chapter 3 deals with in situ data sets such as Argo profiles, tide gauge data, or velocity measurements;
Chapter 4 deals with the Earth’s gravity field, its theoretical representation and measurements. Some
focus is directed toward the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) space gravimetry
mission launched in 2002 for measuring temporal variations of the geoid.
Applications to global and regional problems are summarized in Chapters 5 through 9. Chapter 5
discusses the global mean sea level record derived from satellite altimetry and the various contributions
(ocean thermal expansion, glacier and ice sheet mass balance, and land water storage) causing sea level
variations. Chapters 6 through 9 then focus on specific regional aspects of satellite altimetry, notably
the tropical oceans, the mid-latitude oceans, the Arctic, and the Southern Ocean. For each region, the
importance of satellite altimetry for the study of dynamic and kinematic features is highlighted.
The study by altimetry of specific ocean phenomena is addressed in Chapters 10 through 13.
Chapter 10 addresses the unique way ocean eddies can be observed by satellite altimetry and
updates the reader on recent insights gained through the altimeter time series. Chapter 11 discusses
problems in interpreting altimetry data in coastal zones arising from data inaccuracies in the prox-
imity of land and how to improve those via the development of specific retracking of raw radar
echoes and of new geophysical corrections. Chapter 12 summarizes the use of altimetry to monitor
ocean waves and wind speeds and reviews several recent applications. Ocean tides and how they
have been studied using altimetry are then addressed in Chapter 13.
Applications other than to the ocean are provided in Chapters 14 through 16. Chapter 14 describes
the application of satellite altimetry to the monitoring of surface water levels on land. It discusses
the difficulty in interpreting radar waveforms (echoes) over small lakes and rivers (because of land
contamination) and the recent development of adapted retracking methodologies, allowing the cal-
culation of long water level time series on lakes and rivers. Chapter 15 deals with altimetry on the
Antarctic ice sheet. It describes in great detail how satellite altimetry has contributed to an improved
understanding of the complex dynamics of the ice sheet and how it informs on the mass balance,
one of the main contributions to the sea level budget. In Chapter 16, the global mapping of sea-
floor bathymetry is presented. The global bathymetric maps derived by combining data from dif-
ferent altimetry missions have many practical and scientific applications—in particular in marine
geophysics.
Finally, altimetry in the context of ocean modeling and operational oceanography is addressed
in Chapters 17 and 18. Both chapters provide background information on modeling and assimilation
techniques and review applications with a focus on climate science in Chapter 17 and on operational
oceanography in Chapter 18.
Compiling a book covering a broad range of topics as has been done here cannot be accomplished
without the effort and involvement of a group of very dedicated experts. We would like to thank all
the authors who made contributions to this book as well as the anonymous reviewers who helped by
xx Preface
improving each chapter. Jointly, they have spent a great deal of effort in writing and revising passages
as required by the peer-review process, making this a worthwhile book to read and to own. We are
also indebted to a group of anonymous reviewers who greatly enhanced the quality of this book by
evaluating each chapter. We would like to express our appreciation and thanks for their efforts.
Detlef Stammer
Anny Cazenave
REFERENCE
Fu, L. L., and A. Cazenave. 2001. Satellite altimetry and Earth sciences. In A Handbook of Techniques and
Applications. International Geophysics Series, Volume 69, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, p. 463.
Editors
Detef Stammer is a professor of physical oceanography and Earth system remote sensing at the
Universität Hamburg in Germany, where he is director of the Center für Erdsystemforschung und
Nachhaltigkeit. His research interests include ocean and climate variability analyzed from ocean
and climate data in combination with ocean and climate models (assimilation). The use of satellite
altimetry and other satellite observations for studies of ocean circulation, ocean dynamics, and
mixing and eddy transports are central to his work. One such aspect is the use of altimeter data for
quantitative testing of general ocean circulation models. He has published more than 180 articles
in international journals and was lead author in the Fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change Working Group I Assessment report. He has served on several national and international
scientific committees and is fellow of the American Geophysical Union.
xxi
Contributors
Saleh Abdalla Don Chambers
ECMWF University of South Florida
Reading, UK Tampa, FL
xxiii
xxiv Contributors
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.