A Position Paper: Mesoscale Oceanography from GEOSAT
Abstract
The secondary mission of GEOSAT is oceanography. Several Navy elements, (OP-952, OP-02, and ONR) have a direct interest in seeing that every possible attempt is made to maximize the return of information on the oceanic mesoscale from GEOSAT derived sea surface topography. During the nominal, essentially geodetic, GEOSAT mission attempts to obtain meaningful mesoscale information will be severely hampered due to two critical considerations: (1) The non-repeating nature of the satellite groundtracks during its nominal mission will allow for recovery of geoid uncontamination mesoscale topography in only a very few isolated regions with little mesoscale information in over 99% of the global oceans and; (2) The severe temporal undersampling of the oceanic mesoscale will not allow for the desired synoptic realization of non-stationary mesoscale fields. The best way of meeting requirements for GEOSAT's secondary mission is to remaneuver the satellite into an appropriate orbit with exactly repeating ground-tracks at the completion of its nominal, geodetic mission. It is likely (at above the 50% level of probability) that GEOSAT will survive an additional two years beyond completion of its nominal mission. Studies have already been performed to assess the technical feasibility of such an extended, exact repeat mission (the GEOSAT-ERM), and no major technical difficulties are foreseeable. At a cost of roughly $2M annually the GEOSAT-ERM represents the Navy's most cost effective possibility for obtaining critical global mesoscale information.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA132292
Entities
People
- Jim L. Mitchell
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory