Results for “gdr” — Page 2

NASA NTRS2006

Towards the GEOSAT Follow-On Precise Orbit Determination Goals of High Accuracy and Near-Real-Time Processing

The US Navy's GEOSAT Follow-On spacecraft (GFO) primary mission objective is to map the oceans using a radar altimeter. Satellite laser ranging data, especially in combination with altimeter crossover data, offer the only means of determining high-quality precise orbits. Two tuned gravity models, PGS7727 and PGS7777b, were created at NASA GSFC for GFO that reduce the predicted radial orbit through degree 70 to 13.7 and 10.0 mm. A macromodel was developed to model the nonconservative forces and the SLR spacecraft measurement offset was adjusted to remove a mean bias. Using these improved models, satellite-ranging data, altimeter crossover data, and Doppler data are used to compute both daily medium precision orbits with a latency of less than 24 hours. Final precise orbits are also computed using these tracking data and exported with a latency of three to four weeks to NOAA for use on the GFO Geophysical Data Records (GDR s). The estimated orbit precision of the daily orbits is between 10 and 20 cm, whereas the precise orbits have a precision of 5 cm.

Lemoine, Frank G.↗

NASA NTRS2021

Accuracy Assessment of Global Internal-Tide Models Using Satellite Altimetry Models Using Satellite Altimetry

Altimeter measurements are corrected for several geophysical parameters in order to access ocean signals of interest, like mesoscale or sub-mesoscale variability. The ocean tide is one of the most critical corrections due to the amplitude of the tidal elevations and to the aliasing phenomena of high-frequency signals into the lower-frequency band, but the internal-tide signatures at the ocean surface are not yet corrected globally. Internal tides can have a signature of several centimeters at the surface with wavelengths of about 50–250 km for the first mode and even smaller scales for higher-order modes. The goals of the upcoming Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission and other high-resolution ocean measurements make the correction of these small-scale signals a challenge, as the correction of all tidal variability becomes mandatory to access accurate measurements of other oceanic signals. In this context, several scientific teams are working on the development of new internal-tide models, taking advantage of the very long altimeter time series now available, which represent an unprecedented and valuable global ocean database. The internal-tide models presented here focus on the coherent internal-tide signal and they are of three types: empirical models based upon analysis of existing altimeter missions, an assimilative model and a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. A detailed comparison and validation of these internal-tide models is proposed using existing satellite altimeter databases. The analysis focuses on the four main tidal constituents: M2, K1, O1 and S2. The validation process is based on a statistical analysis of multi-mission altimetry including Jason-2 and Cryosphere Satellite-2 data. The results show a significant altimeter variance reduction when using internal-tide corrections in all ocean regions where internal tides are generating or propagating. A complementary spectral analysis also gives some estimation of the performance of each model as a function of wavelength and some insight into the residual non-stationary part of internal tides in the different regions of interest. This work led to the implementation of a new internal-tide correction (ZARON'one) in the next geophysical data records version-F (GDR-F) standards.

Loren Carrere↗