Benoit Legresy (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Australia); John Church (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Australia); Jack Beardsley (University of Tasmania, Australia); Matt King (University of Tasmania, Australia); Alvaro Santamaría-Gómez (University of Tasmania, Australia)

The altimeter validation facilities in Bass Strait (40° 39’S, 145° 36’ E) have provided cycle-by-cycle estimates of altimeter absolute bias for the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2 missions. A secondary in situ facility in Storm Bay is located ~330 km south-east on the same descending pass (pass 088) has assisted in understanding the evolution of absolute bias for the OSTM/Jason-2 mission.

Here we present updated results from both sites using our single-pass / multi-site approach. We discuss our preparations for the launch of Jason-3 as well as the ESA missions Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B missions – these include investigations using high resolution ocean modelling of Bass Strait in order to assess instrumentation needs and deployment sites.