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NASA NTRS1999

Tilt Modulation Distortions in Wave Topography Measured by a Scanning Radar Altimeter

Work continues on estimating tilt modulation distortions in the wave topography measured by a scanning radar altimeter. To quantify this effect, a two-dimensional simulation has been performed in the cross-track plane only which assumed that sinusoidal waves of constant wavelength propagate in the cross-track direction (and are infinitely long-crested in the along-track direction). The initial results reported earlier for a Gaussian surface scattering model indicated that when the highest reasonable value of mss is used in the simulation (the Plant limit of 0.08), the nadir values of the ratio of the apparent to actual wave height are the same as for the omnidirectional scattering case. But as the off-nadir angle increased, the apparent wave height increased and became larger than the actual wave height by about 10 degrees off-nadir. And the shorter the wavelength, the larger the apparent wave height increase. This represented a systematic over-estimate of the wave amplitude for waves propagating in the cross-track direction. For lower values of mss the situation worsened. The simulation has been improved by incorporating actual variations of backscattered power with incidence angle measured by the SRA instead of the Gaussian model. The resulting distortion was about half that originally reported. The 3-dimensional simulation to model waves propagating at various azimuthal angles relative to the cross-track plane is still in progress. The results of this model will be verified by comparing them with Scanning Radar Altimeter (SRA) data and optimum correction procedures will be developed. An assessment of the improved 2-dimensional model indicates that the distortion will generally be small in the data taken during the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment (SOWEX) presently be analyzed. But tilt modulation effects are of great concern for SRA data collected during the 1998 hurricane season since the minimum aircraft altitude was 1.5 km and it frequently flew higher. For a given wave length and steepness, the effect increases with increasing aircraft altitude, and is larger for waves propagating in the cross-track direction, which was generally the situation during the hurricane flights.

Walsh, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Detection of tides on the Patagonian shelf by the SEASAT satellite radar altimeter - An initial comparison

The detection of tides on the Patagonian shelf off Argentina by the SEASAT satellite radar altimeter is reported. The satellite data was obtained during two passes of the satellite over the shelf on August 1 and August 4, 1978, and compared with empirical estimates of the tidal elevation along the satellite ground tracks based on coastal tide gage data, an estimate of tidal variation over the shelf, and the tidal prediction equations of Shureman (1958). Good agreement was observed between the satellite data of sea surface height with respect to a standard ellipsoid and the empirical estimate for the near-shore pass, with agreement degraded slightly for the pass further off shore. It is concluded that the generally good agreement found demonstrates the applicability of satellite radar altimeter data to the determination of tides and that small length scale fluctuations in the geoid are minor along the two ground tracks.

Parke, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

TOPEX Radar Altimeter Engineering Assessment Report Update: Side B Turn-On to January 1, 2004

This is the eleventh in a series of TOPEX Radar Engineering Assessment Reports, The initial TOPEX Radar Altimeter Engineering Assessment Report, in February 1994, presented performance results for the NASA Radar Altimeter on the TOPEX/POSEIDON spacecraft, from the time of its launch in August 1992 to February 1994. Since the time of that initial report and prior to this report, there have been nine interim supplemental Engineering Assessment Reports, issued in March 1995, May 1996, March 1997, June 1998, August 1999, September 2000, June 2001, March 2002 and again in May 2003.The sixth supplement in September 2000 was the first assessment report that addressed Side B performance, and presented the altimeter performance from the turn-on of Side B until the end of calendar year 1999. This report extends the performance assessment of Side B to the end of calendar year 2003 and includes the performance assessment of Jason-1, the TOPEX follow-on mission, launched on December 7, 2001.

Hancock, David W., III↗
NASA NTRS1979

On the remote detection of swell by satellite radar altimeter

A technique is developed and discussed which utilizes only significant wave height and wind speed measurements available from the GEOS-3 radar altimeter in real time to locate swell dominated regions of the earth's oceans. It is shown that reasonable agreement exists between the GEOS-3 map of the North Atlantic for 24 February 1976 and a map produced from hindcasted values of sea and swell obtained from the Special Projects Branch of the National Weather Service. Only data presently available from existing satellite radar altimeters are needed to map those areas of the oceans dominated by swell. It is concluded that the example given indicates that the decision boundary developed in this study to distinguish swell-dominated seas is a realistic choice.

Parsons, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The evolutionary trend in airborne and satellite radar altimeters

The manner in which airborne and satellite radar altimeters developed and where the trend is leading was investigated. The airborne altimeters have progressed from a broad beamed, narrow pulsed, nadir looking instrument, to a pulse compressed system that is computer controlled, to a scanning pencil beamed system which produce a topographic map of the surface beneath the aircraft in real time. It is suggested that the airborne systems lie in the use of multiple frequencies. The satellite altimeters evolve towards multifrequency systems with narrower effective pulses and higher pulse compression ratios to reduce peak transmitted power while improving resolution. Applications indicate wide swath systems using interferometric techniques or beam limited systems using 100 m diameter antennas.

Fedor, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Motion of Major Ice Shelf Fronts in Antarctica from Slant Range Analysis of Radar Altimeter Data, 1978 - 1998

Slant range analysis of radar altimeter data from the Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1 and ERS-2 databases are used to determine barrier location at particular times, and estimate barrier motion (km/yr) for major Antarctic ice shelves. The barrier locations, which are the seaward edges or fronts of floating ice shelves, advance with time as the ice flows from the grounded ice sheets and retreat whenever icebergs calve from the fronts. The analysis covers various multiyear intervals from 1978 to 1998, supplemented by barrier location maps produced elsewhere for 1977 and 1986. Barrier motion is estimated as the ratio between mean annual ice shelf area change for a particular interval, and the length of the discharge periphery. This value is positive if the barrier location progresses seaward, or negative if the barrier location regresses (break-back). Either positive or negative values are lower limit estimates because the method does not detect relatively small area changes due to calving or surge events. The findings are discussed in the context of the three ice shelves that lie in large embayments (the Filchner-Ronne, Amery, and Ross), and marginal ice shelves characterized by relatively short distances between main segments of grounding line and barrier (those in the Queen Maud Land sector between 10.1 deg. W and 32.5 deg. E, and the West and Shackleton ice shelves). All the ice shelves included in the study account for approximately three-fourths of the total ice shelf area of Antarctica, and discharge approximately two-thirds of the total grounded ice area.

Zwally, H. J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

MARA (Multimode Airborne Radar Altimeter) system documentation. Volume 1: MARA system requirements document

The Multimode Airborne Radar Altimeter (MARA), a flexible airborne radar remote sensing facility developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, is discussed. This volume describes the scientific justification for the development of the instrument and the translation of these scientific requirements into instrument design goals. Values for key instrument parameters are derived to accommodate these goals, and simulations and analytical models are used to estimate the developed system's performance.

Parsons, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Frequency dependence of electromagnetic bias in radar altimeter sea surface range measurements

Range measurements made by satellite radar altimeters experience a bias toward the troughs of ocean waves. A series of aircraft flights during February-April 1989 measured this electromagnetic (EM) bias at three radar frequencies and the UV under a variety of wind and wave conditions, and provided the first airborne open-ocean measurements at the 13.6-GHz and 5.3-GHz operating frequencies of the NASA altimeter on the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. The data suggest that the mean EM bias decreases linearly with increasing radar frequency between 5.3 and 36 GHz, according to the expression: EM bias (percent of significant wave height) = (3.0-0.0617 F)(1 +/-0.5), where F is in gigahertz. EM bias is fairly constant over a mesoscale region on a given day but can fluctuate significantly from one day to another. It shows a strong increase at all radar frequencies with increasing wind speed, although other sea state conditions, such as the wind direction relative to the wave direction, are also factors.

Walsh, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The potential of satellite-based radar altimeters

The benefits of satellite-based radar altimetry for oceanographic research are discussed in connection with the Seasat Altimeter Data Seminar. After a general review of the oceanographic data collected by the Seasat and GEOS-3 satellites, a number of criteria are proposed for the successful operation of a satellite-based radar altimeter for oceanographic remote sensing applications. It is shown how the interpretation of altimeter return power waveforms can be used to calculate wind speed, ocean circulation and variability in wind, waves, and tides. A number of recommendations for improving the accuracy of radar altimeter data are given which may be incorporated in the design of the GEOSAT and TOPEX research satellites.

Mooers, C. N. K.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Engineering studies related to the GEOS-C radar altimeter

Experiment requirements, technical characteristics, and GEOS-C radar altimeter related analyses are discussed along with results of a study on engineering test data requirements. Statistical analyses related to determination of wave height resolution achievable as a function of system characteristics and averaging period are described, in addition to a discussion on the desirability of using computer procedures to compensate for altitude tracker time-jitter. Data processing considerations for the GEOS-C system are examined. An extensive analysis of the spatial filter effect is given and results of a computation of geoidal power spectral density, based on Skylab altimeter data, is displayed and interpreted in terms of projected GEOS-C random errors. This information is then used in deriving minimum-mean-square filter procedures for both geoid undulation and slope data. The characteristics of mean received waveforms as a function of off-nadir angle are used to obtain tracker bias as a function of sea state and pointing angle. The angle estimation process proposed by the GEOS-C hardware contractor is also investigated from a standpoint of achievable angular resolution.

Miller, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Large-scale Gulf Stream frontal study using GEOS 3 radar altimeter data

From data obtained by the GEOS 3 radar altimeter, sea surface heights are found by both editing and filtering the raw sea surface height measurements and then referencing these processed data to a 5 foot by 5 foot geoid. Any trend between the processed data and the geoid is removed by subtracting out a linear fit to the residuals in the open ocean. Data from individual passes are further processed by applying a minimum variance technique at the subsatellite crossing points to produce surface topography maps for the 6 months and an overall mean map which reveal important details about the Gulf Stream system. The differences between the monthly mean and the overall mean are calculated for each of the 6 months to show the temporal and spatial changes of the Gulf Stream front and spawned eddies. The standard deviation map is even more informative and shows preferred locations of Gulf Stream meanders.

Huang, N. E.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A new approach to lightweight radar altimeters

Test results and key principles are given for a radar altimeter designed for meteorological balloons. The instrument, which weighs 160 g and consumes 0.7 W, will fill a gap in meteorological sensing using balloons - an area where pressure altitude was formerly the prevailing reference. The instrument is basically a delay-lock radar utilizing a superregenerative RF stage. Long-term absolute accuracy of plus or minus 10 m and short-term stability of better than 2 m rms were measured at altitudes of 20 km.

Levanon, N.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Radar altimeter mean return wave forms from near-normal-incidence ocean surface scattering

For a nearly Gaussian transmitted pulse shape scattered from a nearly Gaussian distributed sea surface, a small argument series expansion of one term lead to a several term power series expression for the mean return waveform. Specific expressions are given for the first four terms. These results, which require less computer time than numerical convolution, are useful for data analysis from current or past radar altimeters and for design studies of future systems. Several representative results are presented for an idealized Seasat-1 radar altimeter.

Hayne, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Observations from Long-Term Performance Monitoring of the TOPEX Radar Altimeter

From its August 1992 launch to the present, we have performed performance analysis and engineering assessment for the TOPEX radar altimeter. We continually update databases containing: (1) on-board engineering parameters such as temperatures, voltages, and currents; (2) internal calibration mode indications of bias changes in range and power estimates; and (3) global over-ocean averages of geophysical quantities such as significant waveheight (SWH) and ocean surface radar backscattering cross-section (sigmaO). For some time now we have seen an apparent increase in the TOPEX cycle-average SWH, amounting now to an increase of about 10% from our earlier mission value of about 2.8 m. Recently several investigators have reported that the TOPEX SWH is increasing relative to ERS-2 and to ocean buoy measurements. We examined the past six years of waveform data from an internal calibration mode (Cal 1) which samples the altimeter's point target response (ptr), and found that the ptr sidelobes are apparently greater now than at start of mission. Modeling studies indicate that the sidelobe enhancement can account for most of the increase in the TOPEX SWH estimate; that is, the SWH increase is not real but result of some drift within the altimeter. Our modeling indicates that the TOPEX range estimates will change less than a centimeter for ptr changes seen to date. An approximate recipe for correcting the TOPEX SWH values will be made available on our web site (http://topex.wffnasa.gov/). We emphasize that a radar altimeter is a complex system requiring continuing calibration and monitoring throughout its entire lifetime.

Hayne, G. S.↗