Ocean Dynamic Topography 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
ALTOperationalGlobal ocean topography, sea level and gravity field measurements.Radar altimeter
AMROperationalAltimeter data to correct for errors caused by water vapour and cloud-cover. Also measures total water vapour and brightness temperature.n/a
AMR-COperationalCapabilities of the AMR with the addition of an on-board calibrator for high stability wet-tropospheric path delay correction.n/a
AMR-SOperationalCapabilities 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
GPSPOperationalPrecision orbit determination.n/a
Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)OperationalSwath mapping radar altimeter that provides measurements for surface water.Radar altimeter
LRAOperationalBaseline 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)OperationalAll-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)OperationalAll-weather, C-band data to support ecosystem monitoring, maritime surveillance and disaster management.n/a
SAR (RISAT)OperationalRadar backscatter measurements of land, water and ocean surfaces for applications in soil moisture, crop applications (under cloud cover), terrain mapping, etc.n/a
SRALOperationalMarine and land services.Radar altimeter
IRISBeing developedKu-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-CRApprovedCapabilities 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