A Study of Deep Sea Tide Determination by SEASAT Altimeter Data.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to extend the SEASAT altimeter determination of the M2 ocean tide from a single point near Cobb seamount in the northeast Pacific ocean to all the world's oceans on a 5-deg grid. After extending the grid to 32 locations covering the northeast Pacific ocean, it became apparent that the resulting tidal charts contained unrealistic features. In addition, large discrepancies existed between the altimeter determined parameters and those determined from bottom pressure gauges. Further extension of the altimeter solutions was therefore stopped and the study efforts were redirected to study the reason for the discrepancies. It was concluded that the uncertainty of the altimeter solutions was much higher than originally anticipated, due to the near-resonance of the SEASAT orbit with the dominant tidal components and the relative shortness of the SEASAT mission. The extension of the altimeter tide solution for M2 over the world's oceans requires data from a future altimeter satellite mission spanning at least one year. (Author)

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 31, 1983
Accession Number
ADA129869

Entities

People

  • Richard D. Brown

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Altimeters
  • Amplitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Earth Tides
  • Equations
  • Gages
  • Grids
  • Harmonic Analysis
  • Measurement
  • Ocean Tides
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Pressure Gages
  • Sea Water

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Oceanography.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris