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CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY
- RA
-
Full Name
Radar Altimeter
Status
No longer operational
Instrument Agencies
ESA
Maturity
Instrument Type
Radar altimeters
Geometry
Nadir-viewing
Instrument Technology
Radar altimeter
Sampling
Imaging
Data Access
Open Access
Data Format
Measurements and Applications
Measures wind speed, significant wave height, sea surface elevation, ice profile, land and ice topography,and sea ice boundaries.
Resolution Summary
Footprint is 16 - 20 km
Swath Summary
Accuracy Summary
Wave height: 0.5 m or 10% (whichever is smaller) Sea surface elevation: better than 10 cm
Waveband Summary
Microwave: Ku-band: 13.8 GHz
MW (~0.1 cm - ~100 cm)
Ku-Band (12.5 to 18 GHz)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
Category
Parameter
Atmospheric Humidity Fields
Atmospheric specific humidity (TC)
Gravity, Magnetic and Geodynamic measurements
Geoid
Ice sheet topography
Sea-ice sheet topography
Landscape topography
Land surface topography
Ocean surface winds
Wind speed over sea surface (horizontal)
Ocean topography/currents
Sea level
Ocean dynamic topography
Ocean wave height and spectrum
Significant wave height
Sea ice cover, edge and thickness
Sea-ice cover
Sea-ice thickness
Thematic Links
Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECV
Description
Product(s)
ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Sea Ice
click here
click here
Record ID: 11014
Record ID: 10536
Sea Level
click here
click here
Record ID: 11157
Record ID: 11156
Record ID: 11155
Mono-mission along-track Corrected Sea S...
find more ECV Inventory records
Sea State
click here
click here
GlobWave Level 4 Altimeter Monthly Gridd...
Water Vapour (upper air)
click here
click here
search ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
ERS-1 - European Remote Sensing satellite - 1 (1991 - 2000)
ERS-2 - European Remote Sensing satellite - 2 (1995 - 2011)
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CEOS
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