CoAuthors

Richard Ray (NASA GSFC, USA); Frank Lemoine (NASA GSFC, USA); Nikita Zelensky (SGT Inc., USA); Xu Yang (SGT Inc., United States); Shailen Desai (JPL, USA); Shannon Brown (JPL, USA); Gary Mitchum (University of South Florida, USA); Martina Ricko (SGT Inc., USA); Doug Vandemark (University of New Hampshire, USA); Hui Feng (University of New Hampshire, USA)

The determination of the rate of change of mean sea level (MSL) has undeniable societal significance. The measurement of geocentric sea level change from satellite altimetry requires vigilant monitoring of the altimeter measurement system stability since the signal being measured is at the level of a few mm/yr. Foremost, advances in Precise Orbit Determination (POD) provided by, in particular, revisions to the time variable gravity (TVG) realizations, continue to improve the accuracy and stability of the POD, directly affecting mean sea level estimates. Recent GSFC modeling improvements to the gravity field, Jason-1/2 surface forces, station positions, and SLR/DORIS tracking measurements have been applied to generate a new version of the MEaSURES orbits across the TOPEX/Jason-1/Jason-2 missions: std1504. Additional revisions to the Climate Data Record under review include re-calibrated/enhanced TOPEX and Jason-1 radiometer measurements, revised geocentric pole-tide correction (Desai et al., 2015), GOT4.10 ocean tide, 3D sea state bias models, and the verification and implementation of the TOPEX retracked GDR data.

In this presentation we report the efficacy of correction algorithm revisions leading to the development of the MEaSURE’s TPJAOS V3.0 sea surface height Climate Data Record (http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/MERGED_TP_J1_OSTM_OST_ALL). We provide an assessment of recent improvements to the accuracy of the 23-year sea surface height time series, describe continuing calibration/validation activities, and evaluate the subsequent impact on current global and regional mean sea level estimates.