Absolute Calibration of SARAL/AltiKa in Kavaratti During its Initial Calibration-Validation Phase

The Kavaratti calibration-validation site in India at Lakshadweep Sea has been improved to carry out absolute calibration of SARAL/AltiKa altimeter. This site is augmented with a down-looking radar gauge and a permanent GPS receiver. The Kavaratti Island is located near a repeating ground track of SARAL/AltiKa and ～12 km away from the point of closest measurement of Jason-2, SARAL/AltiKa crossover point. Additionally, the altimeter and radiometer footprints do not experience any land contamination. This article aims at presenting the initial calibration-validation results over cycles 001-011 of AltiKa. The absolute sea surface height bias has been found to be ?48 mm at Kavaratti calibration site. In this preliminary study the effect of environmental variables such as winds and pressure are not considered in calculations.     

SARAL/AltiKa Absolute Calibration from the Multi-Mission Corsica Facilities

The geodetic Corsica site was set up in 1998 in order to perform altimeter calibration of the TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) mission and subsequently, Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2. The scope of the site was widened in 2005 in order to undertake the calibration of the Envisat mission and most recently of SARAL/AltiKa. Here we present the first results from the latter mission using both indirect and direct calibration/validation approaches. The indirect approach utilizes a coastal tide gauge and, as a consequence, the altimeter derived sea surface height (SSH) needs to be corrected for the geoid slope. The direct approach utilizes a novel GPS-based system deployed offshore under the satellite ground track that permits a direct comparison with the altimeter derived SSH. The advantages and disadvantages of both systems (GPS-based and tide gauges) and methods (direct or indirect) will be described and discussed. Our results for O/IGD-R data show a very good consistency for these three kinds of products: their derived absolute SSH biases are consistent within 17 mm and their associated standard deviation ranges from 31 to 35 mm. The AltiKa absolute SSH bias derived from GPS-zodiac measurement using the direct method is ?54 ±10 mm based on the first 13 cycles.     

Resolution of Seamount Geoid Anomalies Achieved by the SARAL/AltiKa and Envisat RA2 Satellite Radar Altimeters

The resolution of seamount geoid anomalies by the SARAL/AltiKa Ka-band radar altimeter is compared with the Envisat RA2 Ku-band altimeter using cross-spectral analysis of exact-repeat profiles. Noise spectra show white noise floors at root-mean-square levels around 8 mm per root-Hz for AltiKa and 19 mm per root-Hz for RA2, and are colored at wavelengths longer than a few km, with a spectral hump similar to that seen in Jason-2 data. The AltiKa noise level is lower than the RA2 noise level by more than one would expect from the ratio of their pulse repetition frequencies. Large outliers are present in data from both altimeters, always of one sign (range too long), and show little correlation with rain or other error flags. Seamount anomaly signal to noise ratios are 30 to 10 dB for AltiKa and 3 to 8 dB less for RA2, decreasing as seamount size decreases. Seamounts as small as 1.35 km tall are resolved by both instruments, with significantly better performance by AltiKa due to its lower noise level. If AltiKa can fly a geodetic mission, it will find many presently unknown seamounts.     

Assessing SARAL/AltiKa Data in the Coastal Zone: Comparisons with HF Radar Observations

We present an initial assessment of SARAL/AltiKa data in the coastal band. The study focuses on the Ibiza Channel where the north-south water exchanges play a key role in controlling the circulation variability in the western Mediterranean. In this area, the track 16 of SARAL/AltiKa intercepts the domain covered by a coastal high-frequency (HF) radar system, which provides surface currents with a range up to 60 km. We evaluate the performance of the SARAL/AltiKa Ssalto/Duacs delayed-time along-track products compared to the HF radar surface velocity fields. SARAL/AltiKa data are retrieved at a distance of only 7 km from the coast, putting in evidence the emerging capabilities of the new altimeter. The derived velocities resolved the general features of the seasonal mesoscale variability with reasonable agreement with HF radar fields (significant correlations of 0.54). However, some discrepancies appear, which might be caused by instrumental hardware radar errors, ageostrophic velocities as well as inaccurate corrections and editing in the altimeter data. Root mean square (rms) differences between the estimated SARAL/AltiKa and the HF radar velocities are about 13 cm/s. These results are consistent with recent studies in other parts of the ocean applying similar approaches to Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 missions and using coastal altimeter corrections.     

Use of SARAL/AltiKa over Mountainous Lakes,Intercomparison with Envisat Mission

The SARAL/AltiKa project is based on a single Ka band altimeter (35.75 GHz), which is the first oceanography altimeter to operate at such a high frequency. Ka band offers reduced radar footprint in comparison to traditional Ku band altimeters and negligible ionospheric effects. In this paper we present and evaluate benefits of AltiKa altimeter applied in the study of lakes in Andean chain in South America. Water levels time series obtained with Envisat/RA-2 and SARAL/AltiKa altimeters over 17 lakes of various sizes are calculated and compared to in situ observations. SARAL/AltiKa measurements tend to be extremely well correlated with in situ measurements and offer significant improvements compared to the Envisat mission.     

Retracking of SARAL/AltiKa Radar Altimetry Waveforms for Optimal Gravity Field Recovery

The accuracy of the marine gravity field derived from satellite altimetry depends on dense track spacing as well as high range precision. Here, we investigate the range precision that can be achieved using a new shorter wavelength Ka-band altimeter AltiKa aboard the SARAL spacecraft. We agree with a previous study that found that the range precision given in the SARAL/AltiKa Geophysical Data Records is more precise than that of Ku-band altimeter by a factor of two. Moreover, we show that two-pass retracking can further improve the range precision by a factor of 1.7 with respect to the 40 Hz-retracked data (item of range_40 hz) provided in the Geophysical Data Records. The important conclusion is that a dedicated Ka-band altimeter-mapping mission could substantially improve the global accuracy of the marine gravity field with complete coverage and a track spacing of <6 km achievable in ～1.3 years. This would reveal thousands of uncharted seamounts on the ocean floor as well as important tectonic features such as microplates and abyssal hill fabric.     

Use of SARAL/AltiKa Observations for Modeling River Flow

In the absence of many gauging stations in the major and mighty river systems, there is a need for satellite-based observations to estimate temporal variations in the river water storage and associated water management. In this study, SARAL/AltiKa application for setting up hydraulic model (HEC-RAS) and river flow simulations over Tapi River India has been discussed. Waveform data of 40 Hz from Ka band altimeter has been used for water levels retrieval in the Tapi river. SARAL/AltiKa retrieved water levels were converted to discharge in the upstream location (track-926) using the rating curve available for the nearby gauging site and using linear spatial interpolation technique. Steady state simulations were done for various flow conditions in the upstream. Validation of river flow model was done in the downstream location (track-367) by comparing simulated and altimeter retrieved water levels (RMSE 0.67 m). Validated model was used to develop rating curve between water levels and simulated discharge for the downstream location which enables to monitor discharge variations from satellite platform in the absence of in situ observations. It has been demonstrated that SARAL/AltiKa data has potential for river flow monitoring and modeling which will feed for flood disaster forecasting, management and planning.     

The East Caledonian Current: A Case Example for the Intercomparison between AltiKa and In Situ Measurements in a Boundary Current

This paper presents an assessment of SARAL/AltiKa satellite altimeter for the monitoring of a tropical western boundary current in the south-western Pacific Ocean: the East Caledonian Current. We compare surface geostrophic current estimates obtained from two versions of AltiKa along-track sea level height (AVISO 1 Hz and PEACHI 40 Hz) with two kinds of dedicated in situ datasets harvested along the satellite ground tracks: one deep-ocean current-meter mooring deployed in the core of the boundary current and five glider transects. It is concluded that the AltiKa-derived current successfully captures the velocity of the boundary current, with a standard error of 11 cm/s with respect to the in situ data. It also appears important to reference AltiKa sea level anomaly to the latest mean dynamic topography available in our area. Doing so, Ka-band altimetry provides a satisfactory representation of the western boundary current. Thereby, it usefully contributes to observing its variability in such a remote and under-observed ocean region. However, the rather long repeat period of SARAL (35 days) in comparison to the high frequency variability seen in the flow velocity of the boundary current calls for a combined use of SARAL with the other satellite altimetry missions.     

Envisat and SARAL/AltiKa Observations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet: A Comparison Between the Ku-band and Ka-band

The AltiKa altimeter onboard SARAL is a joint CNES/ISRO mission launched in February 2013 that has the same 35 days repeat orbit of the previous European altimeters, Envisat, and ERS-1/2. SARAL/AltiKa is thus a unique opportunity to extend the repeat observations of this orbit that have been surveyed since 1991. However, the altimeter operates in Ka-band, which is higher than the previous frequencies, and offers new paths of investigation. The penetration depth is theoretically reduced from around 10 m in Ku-band to less than 1 m in Ka-band, such that the volume echo originates from the near subsurface. Second, the sharper antenna aperture leads to a narrower leading edge that reduces the impact of the ratio between surface and volume echoes of the height retrieval. Indeed, the spatial and temporal observations of AltiKa at cross-over points and along-track indicate that the impact of backscatter changes on the height decreasesfrom 0.3 m/dB for the Ku-band to only 0.05 m/dB for the Ka-band. Therefore, the height measurement is stable over time. Moreover, the volume echo in the Ka-band results from the near subsurface layer and is mostly controlled by ice grain size, unlike the Ku-band.     

On the Impact of the Assimilation of SARAL/AltiKa Wave Data in the Operational Wave Model MFWAM

As a part of our calibration/validation activities five months of SARAL/AltiKa wave data have been analyzed in this study. A robust quality control procedure using threshold values on signal and retrieved wave heights was implemented before the assimilation. Assimilation runs in the wave model Météo-France (MFWAM) were performed for a long period. The validation of the model outputs was performed with independent wave observations from altimeter and buoy data. The results indicate good performance in terms of bias and scatter index for the significant wave height and the peak wave period. Statistical analyses were performed for different ocean basins (high and intermediate latitudes and tropics). The use of SARAL/AltiKa and Jason-2 wave data combined was also investigated. This leads to further improvements for the analysis and forecast periods. In other respects, the impact of the assimilation of SARAL/AltiKa wave data is discussed for waves under strong wind conditions such as typhoons Fitow and Danas which occurred in early October 2013.     

SARAL/AltiKa Global Statistical Assessment and Cross-Calibration with Jason-2

The CNES/ISRO mission SARAL/AltiKa was successfully launched on 25 February 2013. It reached its nominal orbit on 13 March 2013. AltiKa is the first altimeter using the Ka-band frequency. This article presents the results of the calibration and validation activities perfromed on the first year of the SARAL/AltiKa mission. The main objective of the article is to assess the SARAL/AltiKa data quality and to estimate the altimeter system performance using GDR products. To achieve this goal, we present mono-mission metrics and compare them with Jason-2 over the same period. Even if these missions do not have the same ground track, precise comparisons are still possible. They allow assessing parameter discrepancies and SSH consistency between both missions in order to detect geographically correlated biases, jumps or drifts. These results show that SARAL/AltiKa data quality is excellent: ocean data coverage is greater than 99.5%, standard deviation at cross-overs is 5.4 cm. The mission therefore fulfills the requirements of high precision altimetry and can be used (in conjunction with Jason-2) to monitor the global mean sea level, ensuring the continuity of the record over ERS/Envisat historical ground track. Possible improvements and open issues are also identified, foreseeing an even better mission performance.     

Sea Ice Leads Detection Using SARAL/AltiKa Altimeter

Sea ice leads play an essential role in ocean-ice-atmosphere exchange, in ocean circulation, geochemistry, and in ice dynamics. Their precise detection is crucial for altimetric estimations of sea ice thickness and volume. This study evaluates the performance of the SARAL/AltiKa (Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa) altimeter to detect leads and to monitor their spatio-temporal dynamics. We show that a pulse peakiness parameter (PP) used to detect leads by Envisat RA-2 and ERS-1,-2 altimeters is not suitable because of saturation of AltiKa return echoes over the leads. The signal saturation results in loss of 6–10% of PP data over sea ice. We propose a different parameter—maximal power of waveform—and define the threshold to discriminate the leads. Our algorithm can be applied from December until May. It detects well the leads of small and medium size from 200 m to 3–4 km. So the combination of the high-resolution altimetric estimates with low-resolution thermal infra-red or radiometric lead fraction products could enhance the capability of remote sensing to monitor sea ice fracturing.     

Ku– and Ka-band Altimeter Data in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea: Impact on the Observation of the Coastal Ocean Variability

The strong increase in altimeter measurement errors near land surfaces is a limiting factor for coastal applications. We analyze the performance of the new Ka-band SARAL/AltiKa (SRL) mission in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. SRL sea surface height (SSH) measurements are compared with those from the Jason-2 Ku-band satellite mission. The results show a significant increase in both quantity and quality of SSH data available near coastlines when using SRL data. Available edited data are 95.1% of SRL compared with 88.6% for Jason-2. Closer than 10 km to the coastline, available SRL data are still about 60% and only about 31% for Jason-2. Comparisons of the altimeter sea level variations are made with available coastal tide gauge data. The differences obtained between altimeter and tide gauge SLA time series are reduced for SRL (3.3 cm in average) compared with Jason-2 (4.2 cm in average), especially closer than 30 km to the land. It results in higher correlations (by 30%) obtained with SRL data. The coastal circulation derived from altimetry using SRL data shows an offshore meandering, which is more stable in time and with larger velocities close to the coast than that derived from Jason-2 observations.     

Global Calibration of SARAL/AltiKa Using Multi-Mission Sea Surface Height Crossovers

SARAL/AltiKa completed its first year in orbit in March 2014. The 1 Hz GDR-T data of the first 10 cycles of the mission are used to perform a comprehensive quality assessment by means of a global multi-mission crossover analysis. Within this approach, SARAL sea surface heights are compared with data from other current missions, mainly Jason-2 and Cryosat-2, to reveal its accuracy and consistency with the other altimeter systems. Alongside with global mean range bias and instrumental drifts, investigations on geographically correlated errors as well as on the realization of the systems origin are performed. The study proves the high quality and reliability of SARAL. The mission shows only a small range bias of about ?5 cm with respect to Jason-2 and neither significant time-tag bias nor instrumental drifts. With 1.3 cm the scatter of radial errors is in the same order of magnitude as for Cryosat-2 and Jason-1 GM and will probably further improve using an enhanced sea state bias (SSB) model. However, the wet tropospheric corrections from SARAL radiometer still show some systematic effects influencing the range bias as well as geographically correlated error patterns and the z-component of the origin. Improved inflight calibration will be necessary to overcome these effects.     

AltiKa Altimeter: Instrument Description and In Flight Performance

On 25 February 2013, the SARAL satellite was launched from the Indian Sriharikota launch site. The key feature of the altimetric payload has been the selection of Ka-band. Using Ka-band avoids the need for a second frequency to correct for the ionosphere delay and eases the sharing of the antenna by the altimeter and the radiometer. The use of the Ka-band also allows the improvement of the range measurement accuracy in a ratio close to 2 due to the use of a wider bandwidth and to a better pulse to pulse echo decorrelation. Eventually, Ka-band antenna aperture is reduced, which limits the pollution within useful ground footprint. A summary of the results obtained during the in-flight assessment phase is given. All the tracking modes have also been gone through. Eventually, a new high data rate mode, called “HD mode” is implemented on AltiKa and has been used. The performance assessment is excellent: the range measurement accuracy is close to 1 cm for 1s averaging and the Significant Wave Height (SWH) noise is less than 5 cm (for a 2m SWH at 1?). The tracking success is close to 100% over oceans and 96% over all surfaces.     

Potential of SARAL/AltiKa for Inland Water Applications

SARAL uses the same orbit as ERS and Envisat and can be used to extend inland water height time series derived from these missions. This article investigates the potential of SARAL for this application over the Great Lakes and the Amazon basin. SARAL/AltiKa is the first altimeter using Ka-band that is rarely influenced by ionospheric effects but susceptible for atmospheric water. Our investigations show clear waveform disruptions for SARAL due to precipitation. It is demonstrated that the quality of water heights improved when using alternative retracker products, for example, the ice-1 product. The improvement depends on the weather and yields up to 3.8 cm for wet conditions. The advantage of the smaller footprint of SARAL is demonstrated for land-water transitions where SARAL provides better water level heights up to 6 km to the lakeshore whereas Envisat is limited to about 11 km. SARAL provides also more reliable water level heights for narrow Amazon rivers than Envisat. Furthermore, the hooking effect is decreased for SARAL. Comparing water level time series of SARAL-only, Envisat-only, and multi-mission with in-situ data demonstrates that SARAL has the potential to extend Envisat long-term time series and to decrease the RMS by about 10% for large lakes and 40% for selected rivers.     

Leveling the Sea Surface Using a GPS-Catamaran Special Issue: Jason-1 Calibration/Validation

In the framework of the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 CNES-NASA missions, two probative experiments have been conducted at the Corsica absolute calibration site in order to determine the local marine geoid slope under the ascending TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 ground track (No. 85). An improved determination of the geoid slope was needed to better extrapolate the offshore (open-ocean) altimetric data to on-shore tide-gauge locations. This in turn improves the overall precision of the calibration process. The first experiment, in 1998, used GPS buoys. Because the time required to cover the extended area with GPS buoys was thought to be prohibitive, we decided to build a catamaran with two GPS systems onboard. Tracked by a boat at a constant speed, this innovative system permitted us to cover an area of about 20 km long and 5.4 km wide centered on the satellites' ground track. Results from an experiment in 1999 show very good consistency between GPS receivers: filtered sea-surface height differences have a mean bias of ?0.2 cm and a standard deviation of 1.2 cm. No systematic error or distortions have been observed and crossover differences have a mean value of 0.2 cm with a standard deviation of 2.7 cm. Comparisons with tide gauges data show a bias of 1.9 cm with a standard deviation of less than 0.5 cm. However, this bias, attributable in large part to the effect of the catamaran speed on the waterline, does not affect the geoid slope determination which is used in the altimeter calibration process. The GPS-deduced geoid slope was then incorporated in the altimeter calibration process, yielding a significant improvement (from 4.9 to 3.3 cm RMS) in the agreement of altimeter bias determinations from repeated overflight measurements.     

Study of Lake Baikal Ice Cover from Radar Altimetry and In–Situ Observations

Comparison of ENVISAT and SARAL missions data shows that AltiKa can be successfully used for ice discrimination methodology and extension of ice conditions time series. Due to shorter wavelength and large bandwidth (480 MHz) which leads to a higher sensitivity to different surface conditions, AltiKa shows more clearly the separation between open water and various ice types. We observe significant decrease of backscatter (25–30 dB) in late spring for both ENVISAT and SARAL and discuss it in the context of ice metamorphism. There is a clear need to continue and expand our dedicated field studies of lake Baikal ice cover to better assess influence of ice structure on altimetric signal.     

Validation of SWH and SSHA from SARAL/AltiKa Using Jason-2 and In-Situ Observations

The focus of this study is the validation of significant wave height (SWH) and sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) obtained from the first Ka-band altimeter AltiKa onboard SARAL (Satellite for ARGOS and Altimeters). It is a collaborative mission of the Indian Space Research Organization and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). This is done using in-situ observations from buoy and Jason-2 measurements. Validation using buoy observations are at particular locations while that using Jason-2 altimeter is an attempt towards global validation of Altika products. The results clearly indicate that the SARAL/AltiKa provide high-quality data and the errors are within a predefined range of accuracy. A parallel validation of SWH from other altimeters, which monitored ocean since last decade, like EnviSAT and Jason-2 was also performed with buoy observations. The results clearly show that the accuracy of AltiKa SWH is much better than EnviSAT and comparable to reference mission Jason-2. The accuracy is quite good for the calm sea while in the rough seas the accuracy degrades some. The inter-comparison of SARAL/AltiKa SSHA with Jason-2 indicates a fair match between them. These validation exercises demonstrate the high quality of AltiKa products, usable for practical applications.     

Leveling the Sea Surface Using a GPS-Catamaran

In the framework of the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 CNES-NASA missions, two probative experiments have been conducted at the Corsica absolute calibration site in order to determine the local marine geoid slope under the ascending TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 ground track (No. 85). An improved determination of the geoid slope was needed to better extrapolate the offshore (open-ocean) altimetric data to on-shore tide-gauge locations. This in turn improves the overall precision of the calibration process. The first experiment, in 1998, used GPS buoys. Because the time required to cover the extended area with GPS buoys was thought to be prohibitive, we decided to build a catamaran with two GPS systems onboard. Tracked by a boat at a constant speed, this innovative system permitted us to cover an area of about 20 km long and 5.4 km wide centered on the satellites' ground track. Results from an experiment in 1999 show very good consistency between GPS receivers: filtered sea-surface height differences have a mean bias of -0.2 cm and a standard deviation of 1.2 cm. No systematic error or distortions have been observed and crossover differences have a mean value of 0.2 cm with a standard deviation of 2.7 cm. Comparisons with tide gauges data show a bias of 1.9 cm with a standard deviation of less than 0.5 cm. However, this bias, attributable in large part to the effect of the catamaran speed on the waterline, does not affect the geoid slope determination which is used in the altimeter calibration process. The GPS-deduced geoid slope was then incorporated in the altimeter calibration process, yielding a significant improvement (from 4.9 to 3.3 cm RMS) in the agreement of altimeter bias determinations from repeated overflight measurements.