| Cryosat-2 altimeter offers the following benefits with respect to conventional satellite altimetry: Factor of 20 improvements in along track resolution. Along-track footprint length that does not vary with wave height (sea state). Improved precision in sea surface height measurements / sea surface slope measurements. These improvements should directly map into i.e., more precise studies of the sea surface height which is of high importance of mean sea surface studies and mean dynamic topography studies of the mean ocean circulation.
The first studies in the Arctic for evaluation of existing mean sea surface models, and determination of mean ocean circulation in the Arctic Ocean. Currently only the DTU10MSS mean sea surface model and DTU10MDT mean dynamic topography offers coverage in the entire Arctic ocean. The first test with Cryosat-2 data LRM (L1 and L2 products) and SAR mode data are presented and used to validate the DTU10MSS and DTU10MDT (mean sea surface and mean dynamic topography) in the Arctic Ocean with special emphasis on the 82° and 86° parallels where altimetry from ENVISAT and ICESat, respectively cease to cover |