CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS
Measurements > Ocean >
Ocean topography/currents >
Ocean dynamic topography


Measurement Definition*: Deviation of sea level from the geoid caused by ocean currents (that is after corrections for tides and atmospheric pressure effects) - Physical unit: [ cm ] - Accuracy unit: [ cm ].

Thematic Links
InstrumentStatus/
Accuracy
Instrument DescriptionMeasurement TechnologyTimeline
ALT
Radar Altimeter
Operational
Global ocean topography, sea level and gravity field measurements.Radar altimeter
AMR
Advanced Microwave Radiometer
Operational
Altimeter data to correct for errors caused by water vapour and cloud-cover. Also measures total water vapour and brightness temperature.n/a
AMR-C
Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate
Operational
Capabilities of the AMR with the addition of an on-board calibrator for high stability wet-tropospheric path delay correction.n/a
AMR-S
AMR-S Two-Beam Microwave Radiometer
Operational
Capabilities of the AMR with the addition of a 2nd beam to provide wet-tropospheric path delay correction within both swaths of the primary radar instrument (KaRIn)n/a
GPSP
Global Positioning System Payload
Operational
Precision orbit determination.n/a
Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)
Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)
Operational
Swath mapping radar altimeter that provides measurements for surface water.Radar altimeter
LRA
Laser Retroreflector Array
Operational
Baseline tracking data for precision orbit determination and/or geodesy. Also for calibration of radar altimeter bias. Several types used on various missions. (ASI involved in LAGEOS 2 development).n/a
SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band
Operational
All-weather images of ocean, ice and land surfaces. Used for monitoring of coastal zones, polar ice, sea ice, sea state, geological features, vegetation and land surface processes.n/a
SAR (RCM)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band
Operational
All-weather, C-band data to support ecosystem monitoring, maritime surveillance and disaster management.n/a
SAR (RISAT)
Synthetic Aperature Radiometer (RISAT)
Operational
Radar backscatter measurements of land, water and ocean surfaces for applications in soil moisture, crop applications (under cloud cover), terrain mapping, etc.n/a
SRAL
SAR Radar Altimeter
Operational
Marine and land services.Radar altimeter
IRIS
Interferometric Radar Altimeter for Ice and Snow
Being developed
Ku-band Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter (with added Ka-band channel for snow depth retrieval and in combination with AMR-CR MW Radiometer for ice&snow classification and wet troposphere correction) to cover the needs for continuous monitoring of sea ice thickness and land ice elevation measurement after Cryosat-2, with enhanced performance.Radar altimeter
AMR-CR
Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate
Approved
Capabilities of the AMR with the addition of an on-board calibrator for high stability wet-tropospheric path delay correction and a redesign with respect to AMR-C (i.e. the 3 high res MW radiometer channels at 90, 130 and 166 GHz are an integral subsystem of the instrument and not experimental as in AMR-C)n/a
* Description adapted from WMO.