Abstract's details
Status in the development of the CRISTAL Marine Data Centre
CoAuthors
Event: 2023 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: Application development for Operations (ROUND TABLE)
Presentation type: Type Poster
Contribution: PDF file
Abstract:
The Copenicus polaR Ice and Snow Topography ALtimeter (CRISTAL) is one of the high-priority candidate missions under consideration by the European Commission (EC) to enlarge the constellation of Sentinel satellites and expand the Earth observation capacity of the Copernicus program. The primary objective of CRISTAL is to measure and monitor key climate change indicators related to the cryosphere (sea-ice thickness, snow depth and ice-sheet elevations) using, for the first time, a Ku/Ka band dual-frequency radar altimeter (IRIS), which will significantly improve the data quality compared to its predecessor altimetry missions. One of the mission secondary objective is to contribute to the global measurement of the sea-surface height, wind speed and significant wave height up to the polar oceans. Thanks to CRISTAL the ocean observing system will benefit from operational ocean data at latitudes currently not covered by any operational mission. This will be essential for the long-term climate records and forecasts of oceanographic essential climate variables.
Over Ocean, improved measurement performances are expected thanks to the CRISTAL advanced altimeter features: high range resolution/sampling, dual frequency operation and their synergy, interferometric capability, and open-burst acquisition mode in the polar regions, etc. These advanced technological upgrades will enable the production of very high-accurate sea-surface height into the lead, in addition to capturing smaller ocean structures, and getting closer to the coast shore.
In the context of this mission, EUMETSAT is entrusted to operate the marine data center generating operational global ocean products. To this end, a group of experts, led by CLS in the framework of the Copernicus Altimetry Services (COPAS), will support EUMETSAT through different steps in the specifications of the CRISTAL marine products, namely:
- First, to define the state-of-the-art review for the CRISTAL marine products taking into consideration the different acquisition modes (SAR CB, SAR OB, SARin OB), processing that are to be exploited (LR, UFSAR, FF-SAR, SARin) and timeliness constraints. Highlighting the challenges of the CRISTAL mission and recommending algorithms ready for the implementation in the CRISTAL marine Ground Segment (GS) based on altimetry literature.
- Second, to define the CRISTAL marine Level-1 and Level-2 product generation specifications based on outcomes from the state-of-art review (and on the Sentinel-6 PGS heritage), and
- Finally, to define the CRISTAL marine Level-1 and Level-2 product formats (PFS).
This presentation aims to inform the community about the early achievements made in this project and the work plan for the 2024 and beyond describing the tasks and activities to be performed for the definition and development of the CRISTAL marine data center.
Over Ocean, improved measurement performances are expected thanks to the CRISTAL advanced altimeter features: high range resolution/sampling, dual frequency operation and their synergy, interferometric capability, and open-burst acquisition mode in the polar regions, etc. These advanced technological upgrades will enable the production of very high-accurate sea-surface height into the lead, in addition to capturing smaller ocean structures, and getting closer to the coast shore.
In the context of this mission, EUMETSAT is entrusted to operate the marine data center generating operational global ocean products. To this end, a group of experts, led by CLS in the framework of the Copernicus Altimetry Services (COPAS), will support EUMETSAT through different steps in the specifications of the CRISTAL marine products, namely:
- First, to define the state-of-the-art review for the CRISTAL marine products taking into consideration the different acquisition modes (SAR CB, SAR OB, SARin OB), processing that are to be exploited (LR, UFSAR, FF-SAR, SARin) and timeliness constraints. Highlighting the challenges of the CRISTAL mission and recommending algorithms ready for the implementation in the CRISTAL marine Ground Segment (GS) based on altimetry literature.
- Second, to define the CRISTAL marine Level-1 and Level-2 product generation specifications based on outcomes from the state-of-art review (and on the Sentinel-6 PGS heritage), and
- Finally, to define the CRISTAL marine Level-1 and Level-2 product formats (PFS).
This presentation aims to inform the community about the early achievements made in this project and the work plan for the 2024 and beyond describing the tasks and activities to be performed for the definition and development of the CRISTAL marine data center.