High Resolution SSH Anomaly Fields from Coincident T/P, ERS-2, and GFO Altimeter Observations

"It is recommended, both for mesoscale and large-scale [ocean circulation] studies, that multiple altimetric satellites be flown contemporaneously." (Koblinsky, et al., 1992). After many years of development this unique situation exists today. TOPEX/POSEIDON, ERS-2, and GFO missions at 10, 35, and 17-day repeat periods, respectively, are providing a dense spatial sampling of the global ocean. In order to accurately map the ocean mesoscale field from the combined missions, a homogeneous, inter-calibrated data set has been generated. This is achieved through the adjustment of GFO and ERS-2 altimetry into the more precise TOPEX/POSEIDON reference frame to minimize inter-mission biases and radial orbit errors. In this presentation we provide a time series of global high resolution sea surface height and surface geostrophic current anomaly fields from the "blended" multi-satellite data set. The height fields are validated against the WOCE global tide gauge network, and their eddy resolving capability is examined through inter-comparison with regional images provided by Sea Wifs and MODIS. The current fields are intercompared with surface drifter observations in regions where geostrophy dominates the flow to assess how well we can observe the eddy kinetic energy spectrum.