Towards a Seamless Transition from TOPEX/Poseidon to Jason-1

The Jason-1 verification phase has proven to be a unique and successful calibration experiment to quantify the agreement with its predecessor TOPEX/Poseidon. Although both missions have met prescribed error budgets, comparison of the mean and time-varying sea surface height profiles from near simultaneous observations derived from the missions' Geophysical Data Records exhibit significant basin scale differences. Several suspected sources causing this disagreement are identified and improved upon, including (a) replacement of TOPEX and Jason project POE with enhanced orbits computed at GSFC within a consistent ITRF2000 terrestrial reference frame, (b) application of waveform retracking corrections to TOPEX significant wave height and sea surface heights, (c) resultant improved efficacy of the TOPEX sea state bias estimation from the value added sea surface height, and (d) estimation of Jason-1 sea state bias employing dual TOPEX/Jason crossover and collinear sea surface height residuals unique to the validation mission. The resultant mean sea surface height comparison shows improved agreement at better than 60 percent level of variance reduction with a standard deviation less then 0.5 cm.     

Evidence That Sea State Bias is Different for Ascending and Descending Tracks

Jason-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) measured sea-surface heights (SSHs) are compared for five regions during the verification tandem phase. The five regions are of similar latitude and spatial extent and include the Gulf of Mexico, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans away from land. In all five regions, a bias, defined as Jason SSH—TOPEX-B SSH, exists that is different for ascending and descending tracks. For example, in the Gulf of Mexico the bias for ascending tracks was -0.13 cm and the bias for descending tracks was 2.19 cm. In the Arabian Sea the bias for ascending tracks was -2.45 cm and the bias for descending tracks was -1.31 cm. The bias was found to depend on track orientation and significant wave height (SWH), indicating an error in the sea state bias (SSB) model for one or both altimeters. The bias in all five regions can be significantly reduced by calculating separate corrections for ascending and descending tracks in each region as a function of SWH. The correction is calculated by fitting a second-order polynomial to the bias as a function of SWH separately for ascending and descending tracks. An additional constraint is required to properly apply the correction, and we chose to minimize the sum of the TOPEX-B and Jason-1 root-mean-square (rms) crossover differences to be consistent with present SSB models. Application of this constraint shows that the correction, though consistent within each region, is different for each region and that each satellite contributes to the bias. One potential source that may account for a portion of the difference in bias is the leakage in the wave forms in TOPEX-B due to differing altitude rates for ascending and descending tracks. Global SSB models could be improved by separating the tracks into ascenders and descenders and calculating a separate SSB model for each track.     

Jason-1 Geophysical Performance Evaluation

The Jason-1 satellite was launched on 7 December 2001 with the primary objective of continuing the high accuracy time series of altimeter measurements that began with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission in 1992. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to validate the performance of the Jason-1 measurement system, and to verify that its error budget is at least at the same level as that of the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. The article reviews the main components of the Jason-1 altimetric error budget from instrument characterization to the geophysical use of the data. Using the Interim Geophysical Data Records (16DR) that were distributed to the Jason-1 Science Working Team during the verification phase of the mission, it is shown that the Jason-1 mission is performing well enough to continue studies of the large-scale features of the ocean, and especially to continue time series of mean sea-level variations with an accuracy comparable to TOPEX/Poseidon.     

One-Centimeter Orbit Determination for Jason-1: New GPS-Based Strategies

The U.S./French Jason-1 satellite is carrying a state-of-the-art GPS receiver to support precise orbit determination (POD) requirements. The performance of the Jason-1 “BlackJack” GPS receiver was strongly reflected in early POD results from the mission, enabling radial accuracies of 1-2 cm soon after the satellite's 2001 launch. We have made further advances in the GPS-based POD for Jason-1, most notably in describing the phase center variations of the on-board GPS antenna. We have also adopted new geopotential models from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). The new strategies have enabled us to better exploit the unique contributions of the BlackJack GPS tracking data in the POD process. Results of both internal and external (e.g., laser ranging) comparisons indicate that orbit accuracies of 1 cm (radial RMS) are being achieved for Jason-1 using GPS data alone.     

Assessment of the Jason Microwave Radiometer's Measurement of Wet Tropospheric Path Delay Using Comparisons to SSM/I and TMI

The Jason microwave radiometer (JMR) provides a crucial correction due to water vapor in the troposphere, and a much smaller correction due to liquid water, to the travel time of the Jason-1 altimeter radar pulse. An error of any size in the radiometer's measurement of wet path delay translates as an error of equal size in the measurement of sea surface height, the ultimate quantity that the altimetric system should yield. The estimate of globally-averaged sea surface height change associated with climate change, requires that uncertainties in the trends in such a global average be accurate to much better than the signal of 1-2 mm/yr. We first compare the JMR observations to those from the TOPEX/Poseidon radiometer (TMR) over approximately six months, since the intent of Jason is to continue the 10-year time series of precision ocean surface topography initiated by T/P. We then assess the stability of the JMR measurement by comparing its wet path delay to those of other orbiting radiometers over 22 months, specifically the Special Sensor Microwave Imager aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP-SSM/I) series of satellites, and the Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission's Microwave Imager (TMI), as well as the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting's (ECMWF) atmospheric numerical model estimate of water vapor. From the combined set, we obtain a robust assessment of the stability of JMR measurements. We find, that JMR is in remarkable agreement with TMR, only 2.5 mm longer, and 6-7 mm standard deviation on their difference in 0.5 degree averages; that JMR has experienced a globally-averaged step-function change, yielding an apparent shortening in wet path delay estimates of 4-5 mm around October 2002 (Jason cycles 28-32); that this step-function is visible only in the 23.8 GHz channel; and that the 34 GHz channel appears to drift at a rate of -0.4K/year. In addition, we find that, while in 2002 there was no evidence of sensitivity to the Jason satellite's attitude (a correlation of the wet path delay with yaw state), in 2003 there are strong (2-3 mm, up to 7 mm globally averaged) changes associated with such yaw state. These JMR issues were all found in the first 22 months of Jason's geophysical data records (GDR) data, and thus they apply to any investigations that use such data without further corrections.     

Detecting surface geostrophic currents using wavelet filter from satellite geodesy

According to the features of spatial spectrum of the dynamic ocean topography (DOT),wavelet filter is proposed to reduce short-wavelength and noise signals in DOT. The surface geostrophic currents calculated from the DOT models filtered by wavelet filter in global and Kuroshio regions show more detailed information than those from the DOT models filtered by Gaussian filter. Based on a satellite gravity field model (CG01C) and a gravity field model (EGM96),combining an altimetry-derived mean sea surface height model (KMSS04),two mean DOT models are estimated. The short-wavelength and noise signals of these two DOT models are removed by using wavelet filter,and the DOT models asso-ciated global mean surface geostrophic current fields are calculated separately. Comparison of the surface geostrophic currents from CG01C and EGM96 model in global,Kuroshio and equatorial Pacific regions with that from oceanography,and comparison of influences of the two gravity models errors on the precision of the surface geostrophic currents velocity show that the accuracy of CG01C model has been greatly improved over pre-existing models at long wavelengths. At large and middle scale,the surface geostrophic current from satellite gravity and satellite altimetry agrees well with that from oceanography,which indicates that ocean currents detected by satellite measurement have reached relatively high precision.     

南海卫星重力研究

用卫星雷达测高确定海面高度可以容易地转换成重力异常。南海应用密轨道的GEOSAT/GM和ERS-1卫星测高数据获得了高分辨率的重力复盖。在这个新的重力图上揭示出许多有意义的、过去未能清楚显示的构造特征,其中包括扩张脊,转换断层,岩石层弹性板厚度,大陆边缘性质,以及新的沉积盆地。     

CryoSat-2测高数据与Landsat 8光学数据融合提取南极Amery冰架接地线

本文利用CryoSat-2测高数据与Landsat 8光学数据,针对南极Amery冰架区域开展接地线提取研究.首先通过Landsat 8光学影像三次Hermite多项式插值处理,在坡度分析的基础上利用表面曲率改进方法获取接地线特征点;同时对CryoSat-2测高数据进行坡度分析和表面曲率计算,通过沿轨梯度分析方法提取接地点;最后将Landsat 8与CryoSat-2数据获取的接地点进行最小二乘融合得到融合接地线.实验结果表明,融合结果利用高空间分辨率光学数据不仅能保证接地线提取精度,同时测高数据还能够弥补光学数据受云遮挡导致的数据空缺,保持接地线的完整性.与MOA产品比较可以看出,融合数据点与MOA接地线平均距离为367 m,标准差为601 m,所有数据点中距离小于1 km的点占总数的93.19%,与MOA产品具有较好一致.本文提出的融合算法可以实现空间连续的接地线提取结果,对后续研究南极物质平衡、冰流速计算等具有重要的意义.     

2003-2018年Byrd冰川流域冰下湖活动及水文联系--多源卫星测高数据监测结果分析

南极冰盖下流动水、活跃冰下湖的活动对冰动力学、接地线稳定性和冰盖物质平衡都有重要影响。本文结合ICESat和CryoSat-2测高卫星数据集,分别运用重复轨道法和差分DEM法,对Byrd冰川流域17个活跃冰下湖进行长达16年的监测,并计算其平均高程和平均水量变化,总结活跃冰下湖的水文特征。根据水势方程获取了此区域的冰下排水路径图,结合冰下湖的位置和活动情况分析其相互间的水文联系。结果表明Byrd冰川流域多个活跃冰下湖间存在明显的水文联系:Byrd1和Byrd2冰下湖具有以2~3年为周期的储排水活动规律,并且Byrd1冰下湖主要受到上游Byrd2冰下湖活动的影响;Byrds9和Byrds14分别受到上游Byrds11和Byrds15冰下湖排水的补充,使湖水水量持续上升。