Ernst Schrama (TUDelft, Netherlands)

CryoSat-2 was launched April 2010 and has been monitoring the Earth’s cryosphere and oceans since with unprecedented accuracy and precision by an ice-dedicated altimeter capable of measuring in LRM, SAR and SARin mode. In this paper we validate CryoSat-2 LRM, RDSAR, IOP and GOP ocean data and assess their quality in comparison with other altimeters by long term monitoring and cross-calibration with the ocean altimeter data in the Radar Altimeter Database System RADS, and by long term monitoring comparing the ocean sea level data with a selected set of tide gauges. The purpose is to evaluate the stability of the measurement system and the identification of possible biases and bias drifts.