28 research outputs found

    Contribution of future wide-swath altimetry missions to ocean analysis and forecasting

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    The impact of forthcoming wide-swath altimetry missions on the ocean analysis and forecasting system was investigated by means of OSSEs (observing system simulation experiments). These experiments were performed with a regional data assimilation system, implemented in the Iberian–Biscay–Ireland (IBI) region, at 1∕12° resolution using simulated observations derived from a fully eddy-resolving free simulation at 1∕36° resolution over the same region. The objective of the experiments was to assess the ability of different satellite constellations to constrain the ocean analyses and forecasts, considering both along-track altimeters and future wide-swath missions; consequently, the capability of the data assimilation techniques used in the Mercator Ocean operational system to effectively combine the different kinds of measurements was also investigated. These assessments were carried out as part of a European Space Agency (ESA) study on the potential role of wide-swath altimetry in future versions of the European Union Copernicus programme. The impact of future wide-swath altimetry data is evident for investigating the reliability of sea level values in OSSEs. The most significant results were obtained when looking at the sensitivity of the system to wide-swath instrumental error: considering a constellation of three nadir and two accurate (small instrumental error) wide-swath altimeters, the error in ocean analysis was reduced by up to 50&thinsp;% compared to conventional altimeters. Investigating the impact of the repetitivity of the future measurements, the results showed that two wide-swath missions had a major impact on sea-level forecasting – increasing the accuracy over the entire time window of the 5-day forecasts – compared with a single wide-swath instrument. A spectral analysis underlined that the contributions of wide-swath altimetry data observed in ocean analyses and forecast statistics were mainly due to the more accurate resolution, compared with along-track data, of ocean variability at spatial scales smaller than 100&thinsp;km. Considering the ocean currents, the results confirmed that the information provided by wide-swath measurements at the surface is propagated down the water column and has a considerable impact (30&thinsp;%) on ocean currents (up to a depth of 300&thinsp;m), compared with the present constellation of altimeters. The ocean analysis and forecasting systems used here are those currently used by the Copernicus Marine Environment and Monitoring Service (CMEMS) to provide operational services and ocean reanalysis. The results obtained in the OSSEs considering along-track altimeters were consistent with those derived from real data (observing system experiments, OSEs). OSSEs can also be used to assess the potential of new observing systems, and in this study the results showed that future constellations of altimeters will have a major impact on constraining the CMEMS ocean analysis and forecasting systems and their applications.</p

    Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

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    In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

    Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

    Get PDF
    In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

    Altimetry for the future: building on 25 years of progress

    Get PDF
    In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

    Study of a perturbed boundary optimal control system

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    AbstractThis article deals with the study of the existence and behaviour of the optimal control and the state of a perturbed boundary control linear system when the space of admissible controls has finite dimension
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