High-performance altimeter Doppler processing for measuring sea level height under varying sea state conditions

This paper describes an innovative method for processing nadir altimeter data acquired in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode, enhancing the system performances over open ocean. Similarly to the current SAR data processing scheme, the so-called LR-RMC (Low Resolution with Range Migration Correction) method, originally designed by Phalippou and Demeester (2011), includes Doppler beam forming, Doppler shift correction and range correction. In LR-RMC, however, an alternative and less complex averaging (stacking) operation is used so that all the Doppler beams produced in a radar cycle (4 bursts of 64 beams for the open-burst Sentinel-3-mode altimeter) are incoherently combined to form a multi-beam echo. In that manner, contrarily to the narrow-band SAR technique, the LR-RMC processing enlarges the effective footprint to average out the effects of surface waves and particularly those from small sub-mesoscale structures (<1 km) that are known to impact SAR-mode performances. On the other hand, the number of averaged beams is as high as in current SAR-mode processing, thus providing a noise reduction at least equally good. The LR-RMC method has the added benefit of reducing the incoherent integration time with respect to the SAR-mode processing (50 ms compared to 2.5 s) limiting possible surface movement effects. By processing one year of Sentinel-3A SRAL SAR-mode data using the LR-RMC method, it is shown that the swell impact on the SAR altimeter performances is totally removed and that an improvement of 10–50% is obtained in the measurement noise of the sea surface height and significant wave height with respect to SAR mode. Additionally, observational capabilities over the middle scales are enhanced potentially allowing the ocean mesoscale features to be retrieved and observations assimilated more usefully in ocean models.     

Sea state parameters retrieval from cross-polarization Gaofen-3 SAR data

Chinese Gaofen-3 (GF-3) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquired in wave mode (WV) and quad-polarization stripmap (QPS) mode default operates in quad-polarization (vertical–vertical (VV), vertical-horizontal (VH), horizontal-horizontal (HH) and horizontal-vertical (HV)) modes. To date, more than GF-3 SAR vignettes following about 110 orbits acquired in WV and QPS mode have been recorded during the mission from April 2016 to December 2017. In the vignettes, ocean surface waves signatures, that are wave-look patterns, are visible in cross-polarization (basically VH). These vignettes are collocated with surface sea state parameters simulated from numerical WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) wave model using a 0.1° grid. There are 11,269 matchups available for studying the relation between sea state parameters and SAR-derived parameters in VH-polarization. A well-known empirical CWAVE model, herein renamed as CPCWAVE_GF3, is adopted for sea state parameter retrieval from GF-3 SAR vignettes with the SAR parameters in the cross-polarization channel. The method yielded a significant correlation coefficient (COR) of 0.79 for wave height (SWH) and 0.72 for second-order cross-zero mean wave period (MWP). Validation against 76 moored buoys resulted in a 0.49 m RMSE of SWH with a 0.21 m scatter index (SI) and validation against 71 moored buoys resulted in a 1.01 s RMSE of MWP with a 0.13 s SI. The comparison of SWH with 116 footprints from the altimeter of Jason-2 also shows a 0.46 m RMSE of SWH with a 0.19 m SI. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of wave retrieval from GF-3 SAR using cross-polarization channels parameters.     

Preliminary gravity recovery from CryoSat-2 data in the Baffin Bay

A number of geophysical phenomenons in the open ocean are still unresolved by conventional altimetry, but could be resolved through the potential improvements offered by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), also called Delay-Doppler, altimetry. The SAR altimeter offers the following benefits with respect to conventional satellite altimetry: factor of 20 improvements in the along-track resolution, the along-track footprint length which does not vary with wave height (sea state), and improved precision in sea surface height measurements or sea surface slope measurements.     

Exploiting the Sentinel-3 tandem phase dataset and azimuth oversampling to better characterize the sensitivity of SAR altimeter sea surface height to long ocean waves

Being the very first SAR mode altimeter tandem phase, the Sentinel-3 A/B tandem phase has provided an unprecedented opportunity to better characterize the sensitivity of SAR altimetry retrievals to high-frequency processes, such as long ocean waves. In this paper, we show that for some sea-state conditions, that are still to be precisely characterized, long ocean waves are responsible for high-frequency (spatial and temporal) coherent Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) signals. It is found that the peak wavelength corresponds to the dominant swell wavelength. Furthermore, the short time lag between S3-A and S3-B acquisitions allows performing cross-spectral analyses that reveal phase shifts consistent with waves travelling according to the wave dispersion relation. It is also demonstrated that the classical 20 Hz sampling frequency is insufficient to properly sample most swell-induced SLA signals and that aliasing can generate errors over the entire frequency spectrum, including at long wavelengths. These results advocate for the use of azimuth oversampling (40 Hz or 80 Hz). Low-pass filtering should be applied prior to any down-sampling to 20 Hz, in order to prevent long-wavelength errors induced by spectral leakage.     

重力波波包在可压大气中的非线性传播

本文采用二维全隐欧拉(FICE)格式对具有高斯分布的重力波波包在等温、可压大气中的非线性传播过程进行数值模拟和分析.数值分析结果表明:尽管存在非线性效应,在整个传播过程中,波动的等相面向下运动,波包和波相关能量向上传输.波相关扰动速度随高度增加指数增长,并且波与平流会发生非线性相互作用,最后导致平均流场增强.这与线性重力波理论完全一致.重力波波包的传播路径与重力波线性射线理论预言非常接近,但平均水平群速度和平均垂直群速度均明显小于线性射线理论给出的结果,可见波动的非线性过程会改变波相关能量的传输速度.模拟结果首次定量地展示出非线性效应对重力波波包传播的影响,表明建立在线性理论框架中的重力波运动学定义的合理性.      

Mapping mean lake surface from satellite altimetry and GPS kinematic surveys

Lake water height is a key variable in water cycle and climate change studies, which is achievable using satellite altimetry constellation. A method based on data processing of altimetry from several satellites has been developed to interpolate mean lake surface (MLS) over a set of 22 big lakes distributed on the Earth. It has been applied on nadir radar altimeters in Low Resolution Mode (LRM: Jason-3, Saral/AltiKa, CryoSat-2) in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode (Sentinel-3A), and in SAR interferometric (SARin) mode (CryoSat-2), and on laser altimetry (ICESat). Validation of the method has been performed using a set of kinematic GPS height profiles from 18 field campaigns over the lake Issykkul, by comparison of altimetry’s height at crossover points for the other lakes and using the laser altimetry on ICESat-2 mission. The precision reached ranges from 3 to 7 cm RMS (Root Mean Square) depending on the lakes. Currently, lake water level inferred from satellite altimetry is provided with respect to an ellipsoid. Ellipsoidal heights are converted into orthométric heights using geoid models interpolated along the satellite tracks. These global geoid models were inferred from geodetic satellite missions coupled with absolute and regional anomaly gravity data sets spread over the Earth. However, the spatial resolution of the current geoid models does not allow capturing short wavelength undulations that may reach decimeters in mountaineering regions or for rift lakes (Baikal, Issykkul, Malawi, Tanganika). We interpolate in this work the geoid height anomalies with three recent geoid models, the EGM2008, XGM2016 and EIGEN-6C4d, and compare them with the Mean Surface of 22 lakes calculated using satellite altimetry. Assuming that MLS mimics the local undulations of the geoid, our study shows that over a large set of lakes (in East Africa, Andean mountain and Central Asia), short wavelength undulations of the geoid in poorly sampled areas can be derived using satellite altimetry. The models used in this study present very similar geographical patterns when compared to MLS. The precision of the models largely depends on the location of the lakes and is about 18 cm, in average over the Earth. MLS can serve as a validation dataset for any future geoid model. It will also be useful for validation of the future mission SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) which will measure and map water heights over the lakes with a high horizontal resolution of 250 by 250 m.     

Displacement monitoring performance of relative positioning and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) methods using simulation apparatus

Besides the classical geodetic methods, GPS (Global Positioning System) based positioning methods are widely used for monitoring crustal, structural, ground etc., deformations in recent years. Currently, two main GPS positioning methods are used: Relative and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) methods. It is crucial to know which amount of displacement can be detected with these two methods in order to inform their usability according to the types of deformation. Therefore, this study conducted to investigate horizontal and vertical displacement monitoring performance and capability of determining the direction of displacements of both methods using a developed displacement simulator apparatus. For this purpose, 20 simulated displacement tests were handled. Besides the 24?h data sets, 12?h, 8?h, 4?h and 2?h subsets were considered to examine the influence of short time spans. Each data sets were processed using GAMIT/GLOBK and GIPSY/OASIS scientific software for relative and PPP applications respectively and derived displacements were compared to the simulated (true) displacements. Then statistical significance test was applied. Results of the experiment show that using 24?h data sets, relative method can determine up to 6.0?mm horizontal displacement and 12.3?mm vertical displacement, while PPP method can detect 8.1?mm and 19.2?mm displacements in horizontal and vertical directions respectively. Minimum detected displacements are found to grow larger as time spans are shortened.     

中层及低热层大气对局地时变热源的响应

采用二维交替方向隐格式(ADI),数值模拟了中高层大气对一个位于对流层高度范围的局地时变热源的响应．分析了这一过程中大气响应的能量密度,水平波数,垂直波数以及频率．模拟结果表明:响应波动携带能量向上传播,集中在较为狭窄的水平区域,该区域关于源的水平位置对称;相对于动量源驱动,热源的水平尺度对响应的水平波长决定性作用更加明显;对于高频振荡的热源,其响应的频率和源一致;响应的垂直波长(41 km)比源的垂直尺度(6 km)大得多．     

重力波波包在三维非等温大气和水平风场中非线性传播的数值研究

采用全隐欧拉格式（FICE）对重力波波包在三维非等温大气、均匀和剪切风场中的非线性传播进行了数值模拟，给出了重力波波包三维非线性传播的全过程，分析了重力波的传播特性及背景温度场、风场对重力波传播的影响。结果表明：波包扰动速度振幅的增长比在WKB条件下振幅的增长要慢；波包非线性传播的路径、能量传输速度不同于WKB近似下的结果，非线性效应导致了重力波的传播特性的改变；温度场的非均匀性会改变重力波传播的路径和速度；剪切风场使扰动速度振幅的增加变得缓慢，使垂直波长减小。     

Exploring the potential of Sentinel-3 delay Doppler altimetry for enhanced detection of coastal currents along the Northwest Atlantic shelf

In this study, we evaluate Sentinel-3A satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter observations along the Northwest Atlantic coast, spanning the Nova Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, and Mid-Atlantic Bight. Comparisons are made of altimeter sea surface height (SSH) measurements from three different altimeter data processing approaches: fully-focused synthetic aperture radar (FFSAR), un-focused SAR (UFSAR), and conventional low-resolution mode (LRM). Results show that fully-focused SAR data always outperform LRM data and are comparable or slightly better than the nominal un-focused SAR product. SSH measurement noise in both SAR-mode datasets is significantly reduced compared to LRM. FFSAR SSH 20-Hz noise levels, derived from 80-Hz FFSAR data, are lower than 20-Hz UFSAR SSH with 25% noise reduction offshore of 5 km, and 55–70% within 5 km of the coast. The offshore noise improvement is most likely due to the higher native along-track data posting rate (80 Hz for FFSAR, and 20 Hz for UFSAR), while the large coastal improvement indicates an apparent FFSAR data processing advantage approaching the coastlines. FFSAR-derived geostrophic ocean current estimates exhibit the lowest bias and noise when compared to in situ buoy-measured currents. Assessment at short spatial scales of 5–20 km reveals that Sentinel-3A SAR data provide sharper and more realistic measurement of small-scale sea surface slopes associated with expected nearshore coastal currents and small-scale gyre features that are much less well resolved in conventional altimetric LRM data.     

Impact of rain on wave retrieval from Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images in tropical cyclones

The main objective of our work was to investigate the impact of rain on wave observations from C-band (~5.3 GHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in tropical cyclones. In this study, 10 Sentinel-1 SAR images were available from the Satellite Hurricane Observation Campaign, which were taken under cyclonic conditions during the 2016 hurricane season. The third-generation wave model, known as Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) (version 41.31), was used to simulate the wave fields corresponding to these Sentinel-1 SAR images. In addition, rainfall data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite passing over the spatial coverage of the Sentinel-1 SAR images were collected. The simulated results were validated against significant wave heights (SWHs) from the Jason-2 altimeter and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data, revealing a root mean square error (RMSE) of ~0.5 m with a 0.25 scatter index. Winds retrieved from the VH-polarized Sentinel-1 SAR images using the Sentinel-1 Extra Wide-swath Mode Wind Speed Retrieval Model after Noise Removal were taken as prior information for wave retrieval. It was discovered that rain did indeed affect the SAR wave retrieval, as evidenced by the 3.21-m RMSE of SWHs between the SAR images and the SWAN model, which was obtained for the ~1000 match-ups with raindrops. The raindrops dampened the wave retrieval when the rain rate was < ~5 mm/hr; however, they enhanced wave retrieval for higher rain rates. It was also found that the portion of the rain-induced ring wave with a wave number > 0.05 rad/m (~125 m wavelength) was clearly observed in the SAR-derived wave spectra.     

基于半无码的P(Y)码自相关GNSS-R海面测高方法

针对传统GPS C/A码延迟测高方法测高精度低和互相关测高方法时延波形信噪比低的问题,研究了基于半无码的P（Y）码自相关海面测高方法。首先,通过理论测高精度模型,对比分析了C/A码和P（Y）码的测高精度;然后,描述了L1、L2双频反射信号基于半无码的P（Y）码自相关处理架构,并论述了测高模型和L1、L2双频电离层时延误差修正方法;最后,利用模拟的L1、L2反射信号对比分析了基于半无码的P（Y）码自相关、C/A码自相关以及信号互相关方法的海面测高精度。结果表明:相比于C/A码自相关和信号互相关测高精度,基于半无码的P（Y）码自相关的测高精度分别提高了3.97倍和1.47倍。      

分离式方位角垂直传递装置校准方法研究CSCD

针对分离式方位角垂直传递装置的技术特点,提出了一种适合不同传递距离、高准确度校准方法。在水平状态下,利用五棱镜、硅油盘和自准直光电经纬仪,实现对不同传递距离无机械连接的方位角垂直传递装置的检测和校准,并对校准系统进行了误差分析和试验验证,为方位角垂直传递装置的推广应用提供理论依据。     

Case study of inclined sporadic E layers in the Earth’s ionosphere observed by CHAMP/GPS radio occultations: Coupling between the tilted plasma layers and internal waves

We have used the radio occultation (RO) satellite data CHAMP/GPS (Challenging Minisatellite Payload/Global Positioning System) for studying the ionosphere of the Earth. A method for deriving the parameters of ionospheric structures is based upon an analysis of the RO signal variations in the phase path and intensity. This method allows one to estimate the spatial displacement of a plasma layer with respect to the ray perigee, and to determine the layer inclination and height correction values. In this paper, we focus on the case study of inclined sporadic E (E_s) layers in the high-latitude ionosphere based on available CHAMP RO data. Assuming that the internal gravity waves (IGWs) with the phase-fronts parallel to the ionization layer surfaces are responsible for the tilt angles of sporadic plasma layers, we have developed a new technique for determining the parameters of IGWs linked with the inclined E_s structures. A small-scale internal wave may be modulating initially horizontal E_s layer in height and causing a direction of the plasma density gradient to be rotated and aligned with that of the wave propagation vector k. The results of determination of the intrinsic wave frequency and period, vertical and horizontal wavelengths, intrinsic vertical and horizontal phase speeds, and other characteristics of IGWs under study are presented and discussed.     

武汉上空中层顶区域潮汐的MF雷达观测

利用武汉中频雷达观测数据进行分析,研究2至3月份武汉上空中层顶潮汐结构及其随高度和时间变化的特性.用Lomb-Scargle周期图方法计算的水平风场动态功率谱表明,武汉上空存在持续的周日潮汐,是中层顶区域风场结构的主要成分.周日潮的平均振幅随高度的增加呈先增后减的趋势.大多数情况下,潮汐谱峰对应的频率与定义值有一定的偏移.周日潮水平扰动速度矢量随时问和高度变化的轨迹表明,经向分量的相位比纬向分量的相位超前,潮汐能量向上传播,对应于向下的相位传播速度.计算得出的经向分量和纬向分量的垂直相速度分别为1.10和1.15 km/h.      

面向综合环境监测的星载SAR技术发展

针对中国微波遥感对地观测在信息维度、反演精度、观测效率和体系架构等方面存在的问题,基于国家重点研发计划“星载新体制SAR综合环境监测技术”的研究内容与成果,探讨了面向综合环境监测的若干未来星载SAR技术发展。在超大幅宽成像方面,提出分段渐变重频时序设计方案和基于最优线性无偏估计的低过采样变重频数据处理算法,实现了跨盲区大幅宽星载SAR成像;在宽幅星载SAR高灵敏度成像方面,提出中频数字波束合成高效星上实时处理架构和加权因子快速生成算法,采用16通道机载飞行试验数据验证,图像信噪比提升约112dB;在多极化星载SAR成像方面,分别提出一种简缩极化分解算法及混合全极化方位模糊抑制方法,在P/L波段机载飞行试验中得到验证;在高精度干涉SAR技术方面,提出基于改进相位补偿方案的层析SAR处理方法,利用P波段全极化层析SAR数据验证,获得优于0.9m的森林高度反演精度;在综合环境监测星座架构设计方面,针对广域地表高程、地表形变、海浪谱能量、洋流速度和生物量应用,完成品质因数达100的高分宽幅SAR卫星方案,其观测效能和观测维度较目前在轨SAR卫星有大幅提升。     

Validity assessment of SAMOSA retracking for fully-focused SAR altimeter waveforms

We demonstrate in this work how we can take advantage of known unfocused SAR (UF-SAR) retracking methods (e.g. the physical SAMOSA model) for retracking of fully-focused SAR (FF-SAR) waveforms. Our insights are an important step towards consistent observations of sea surface height, significant wave height and backscatter coefficient (wind speed) with both UF-SAR and FF-SAR. This is of particular interest for SAR altimetry in the coastal zone, since coastal clutter may be filtered out more efficiently in the high-resolution FF-SAR waveform data, which has the potential to improve data quality. We implemented a multi-mission FF-SAR altimetry processor for Sentinel-3 (S3) and Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (S6), using a back-projection algorithm, and analysed ocean waveform statistics compared to multilooked UF-SAR. We find for Sentinel-3 that the averaged power waveforms of UF-SAR and FF-SAR over ocean are virtually identical, while for Sentinel-6 the FF-SAR power waveforms better resemble the UF-SAR zero-Doppler beam. We can explain and model the similarities and differences in the data via theoretical considerations of the waveform integrals. These findings suggest to use the existing UF-SAR SAMOSA model for retracking S3 FF-SAR waveforms but the SAMOSA zero-Doppler beam model for S6 FF-SAR waveforms, instead. Testing the outlined approach over short track segments, we obtain range biases between UF-SAR and FF-SAR lower than 2 mm and significant wave height biases lower than 5 cm.     

Estimates of vertical land motion along the southwestern coasts of Turkey from coastal altimetry and tide gauge data

The differences between coastal altimetry and sea level time series of tide gauges in between March 1993 and December 2009 are used to estimate the rates of vertical land motion at three tide gauge locations along the southwestern coasts of Turkey. The CTOH/LEGOS along-track coastal altimetry retrieves altimetric sea level anomalies closer to the coast than the standard along-track altimetry products. However, the use of altimetry very close to the coast is not found to improve the results. On the contrary, the gridded and interpolated AVISO merged product exhibits the best agreement with tide gauge data as it provides the smoothest variability both in space and time compared with along track altimetry data. The Antalya gauge to the south (in the Mediterranean Sea) and the Mentes/Izmir gauge to the west (in the Aegean Sea) both show subsidence while the Bodrum tide gauge to the south (in the Aegean Sea) shows no significant vertical land motion. The results are compared and assessed with three independent geophysical vertical land motion estimates like from GPS. The GIA effect in the region is negligible. The VLM estimates from altimetry and tide gauge data are in good agreement both with GPS derived vertical velocity estimates and those inferred from geological and archaeological investigations.     

星载SAR全方位模糊特性及计算方法

常规的星载SAR模糊度计算方法是基于距离向一维方向图和方位向一维方向图,独立进行距离向模糊度和方位向模糊度分析.由于星载SAR对地观测是二维的,因此距离模糊度是全方位的,且真实的模糊能量仅来自于距离向模糊信号,方位向模糊是基于距离向模糊信号的基础上由于成像处理导致的模糊信号重组.为解决系统设计时预估分析的距离向模糊度值...     

地形产生的山地波及其传播过程模拟研究

气流经过地形产生的山地波是大气重力波研究的重要类别之一.从大气运动的控制方程组出发,建立模拟地形产生的山地波及其传播过程的二维数值模式.利用水平背景风场、地形和垂直速度之间的关系,在模式中引入垂直速度扰动作为地形产生山地波的激发源.通过模拟该激发源引起的扰动即山地波在大气中的传播过程,再现了山地波的产生、传播及充分发展过程.通过分析水平波长、垂直波长、位温扰动、流线,在空间尺度上描述了山地波的产生、传播及充分发展的过程.在气流经过地形产生的山地波的传播过程中,其水平波长λ_x的范围为2.5~5km,垂直波长λ_z约为2.5km.这些结果与利用山地波线性理论计算的垂直波长一致,从而验证了本模式能够模拟地形产生的山地波及其传播过程,为深入了解山地波的产生过程及其在中高层大气中的传播机制和效应奠定了基础.