Abstract's details
The altimeter product suite for Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission
CoAuthors
Event: 2019 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: The Future of Altimetry
Presentation type: Type Oral
Contribution: not provided
Abstract:
The Sentinel-6 (Jason-CS) mission will follow TOPEX and the Jason-series of “reference altimeter missions”. But it is in many ways a totally new type of mission, a different platform (similar to CryoSat) and a different altimeter (dissimilar from any of the previous altimeters). Not only will it be the first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) altimeter used on one of the reference missions, it will also be the first altimeter that operates in a continuous high-rate pulse mode, 100% of the time. This particular operating mode allows simultaneous production of Low Resolution (LR) mode measurements on-board as well as the processing of SAR echoes (High Resolution, HR, processing) on-ground. Both types of measurements will be provided in separate families of Sentinel-6 altimeter data products.
Like Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6 Altimeter Level 1 products will be made available containing all the individual echoes in the time domain (L1A) or the measurement data and waveforms without geophysical corrections (L1B). Level 2 (L2) products will contain the geophysical measurements of sea level, wind speed, and significant wave height, at 20-Hz and 1-Hz, from both LRM and SAR altimetry. They will also contain an appropriate set of geophysical corrections, outlined in this presentation, aimed at providing sea level measurements at the cutting edge of what is feasible. The product standards are aligned with the upcoming Jason-3 GDR-F standard.
Another novelty for the Sentinel-6 mission is the production of a Microwave Radiometer Level 2 user product, aimed at furthering the use of microwave radiometer measurements of water vapour to a wider community.
This presentation will show how the Sentinel-6 products compare with the products of the Jason-series and of Sentinel-3 and how continuity is ensured.
Like Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6 Altimeter Level 1 products will be made available containing all the individual echoes in the time domain (L1A) or the measurement data and waveforms without geophysical corrections (L1B). Level 2 (L2) products will contain the geophysical measurements of sea level, wind speed, and significant wave height, at 20-Hz and 1-Hz, from both LRM and SAR altimetry. They will also contain an appropriate set of geophysical corrections, outlined in this presentation, aimed at providing sea level measurements at the cutting edge of what is feasible. The product standards are aligned with the upcoming Jason-3 GDR-F standard.
Another novelty for the Sentinel-6 mission is the production of a Microwave Radiometer Level 2 user product, aimed at furthering the use of microwave radiometer measurements of water vapour to a wider community.
This presentation will show how the Sentinel-6 products compare with the products of the Jason-series and of Sentinel-3 and how continuity is ensured.