Michael Ablain (CLS, France); Nicolas Picot (CNES, France)

After almost 9 years in orbit as a precise altimeter mission on two different repeat ground tracks, Jason-2 had early this year an interuption of its science mission from 17th May to early July 2017. In the following, it was moved to a long-repeat ground track. Though this orbit is less interesting for the tandem mission with Jason-3 to solve mesoscale oceanography, the mission can still provide valuable and usefull data for several applications.

Therefore, the objective of this study is to provide an overview of the global data quality of Jason-2 data on the new orbit. Firstly, the stability of the altimeter and radiometer parameters is carefully monitored and the system performances assessed. This consists in long-term monitoring of the parameters, as well as comparison to Jason-3 data, in order to assess the possible impact of the lower altitude (~-27km) on the altimeter data. Furthermore the impact of the new orbit on the sea-level perfomances is accurately analysed.