Abstract's details
High-Resolution Maps of Sea Surface Height: A new method applied to the California Current system
Event: 2019 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: Science III: Mesoscale and sub-mesoscale oceanography
Presentation type: Poster
We present a new method to optimize mapping of along-track measurements of sea surface height (SSH) from multiple satellites onto a regular space-time grid. Motivated by the upcoming SWOT Cal/Val in the California Current system, our goal has been to investigate how much of the fine-scale ocean variability resolved by along-track observations can be retained in the interpolated 2D maps, while avoiding spurious off-track variance. To objectively map the SSH, we apply a variational interpolation technique, optimize the correlation scales for the region, and incorporate a new 'representation error' term in the observational error covariance matrix. Initial results indicate a significant improvement over AVISO in terms of the spatial and temporal resolution of the maps, which we validate with independent remote and in-situ datasets.
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