Highlights Glider data were acquired along a SARAL/AltiKa track in August 2013 in the Ibiza Channel. Satellite altimetry, HF radar and glider data are interpolated and filtered to compute the cross-track velocity. All the platforms showed the existence of a 25–30km width coastal jet with velocities larger than 20cm/s. Filtered 40Hz data provided geostrophic current about 10km from the coast.
Abstract Satellite altimetry measurements from SARAL-AltiKa are analysed in the coastal ocean using the results of the G-AltiKa mission (1–5 August 2013), which combined altimeter, HF radar and glider data coincident with the satellite track, south-west of Ibiza Island, in the Western Mediterranean Sea. The absolute dynamic topography, computed from 1Hz and 40Hz altimetry data, and the dynamic height, computed from glider temperature and salinity, both exhibited a weak signal with amplitudes of order 2cm. The resulting geostrophic and HF radar velocities along the track depicted a north-westward coastal current with a maximal velocity larger than 20cms−1. This demonstrates that the AltiKa altimeter is able to resolve SLA signals of more than 2cm, and gradients in those signals over several tens of kilometres. After filtering, the 40Hz data depicted a signal consistent with the other platforms, up to a distance of order 10km from the coast.
Illustration of the emerging capabilities of SARAL/AltiKa in the coastal zone using a multi-platform approach
Advances in Space Research ; 55 , 1 ; 51-59
2014-09-04
9 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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