Developments in Satellite Radar Altimetry over Land
Abstract
Topography is a key characteristic of planetary surfaces and its quantitative topographic evaluation is essential to understand flow such as occurs in volcanic and fluvial processes. Topography is also essential for geophysical probing of the interior of planets. Radar altimeters designed up to now (Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1/2, Topex/Poseidon, Envisat) have widely demonstrated the capability of performing measurements of the ocean topography from space with a high degree of accuracy. Nevertheless none of the mentioned systems provides an extensive capability to get topographic measurements over ice and land surfaces as requested by scientists due to conventional pulse limited altimeters that are unable to retrieve details over ice or land surfaces because of the rather coarse horizontal resolution. On that basis, the algorithms currently in use on altimetry missions will be analysed, along with the errors estimation budget methods and the theoretical model describing the Radar Impulse Response. The results of the analysis will be focused on the evolution of the current methods and its application to the future Altimetry missions (e.g. Sentinel 3, Cryosat-2).
- Publication:
-
ESA Living Planet Symposium
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010ESASP.686E.471M