Combined Use of Altimetry and In Situ Gravity Data for Coastal Dynamics Studies

Accurate local geoids derived from in situ gravity data will be valuable in the validation of GOCE results. In addition it will be a challenge to use GOCE data in an optimal way, in combination with in situ gravity, to produce better local geoid solutions. This paper discusses the derivation of a new geoid over the NW European shelf, and its comparison with both tide gauge and altimetric sea level data, and with data from ocean models. It is hoped that over the next few years local geoid methods such as these can be extended to cover larger areas and to incorporate both in situ and satellite measured gravity data. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Radio plasma imager simulations and measurements

The Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) will be the first-of-its kind instrument designed to use radio wave sounding techniques to perform repetitive remote sensing measurements of electron number density (N _e) structures and the dynamics of the magnetosphere and plasmasphere. RPI will fly on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) mission to be launched early in the year 2000. The design of the RPI is based on recent advances in radio transmitter and receiver design and modern digital processing techniques perfected for ground-based ionospheric sounding over the last two decades. Free-space electromagnetic waves transmitted by the RPI located in the low-density magnetospheric cavity will be reflected at distant plasma cutoffs. The location and characteristics of the plasma at those remote reflection points can then be derived from measurements of the echo amplitude, phase, delay time, frequency, polarization, Doppler shift, and echo direction. The 500 m tip-to-tip X and Y (spin plane) antennas and 20 m Z axis antenna on RPI will be used to measures echoes coming from distances of several R _E. RPI will operate at frequencies between 3 kHz to 3 MHz and will provide quantitative N _e values from 10^–1 to 10⁵ cm^–3. Ray tracing calculations, combined with specific radio imager instrument characteristics, enables simulations of RPI measurements. These simulations have been performed throughout an IMAGE orbit and under different model magnetospheric conditions. They dramatically show that radio sounding can be used quite successfully to measure a wealth of magnetospheric phenomena such as magnetopause boundary motions and plasmapause dynamics. The radio imaging technique will provide a truly exciting opportunity to study global magnetospheric dynamics in a way that was never before possible.     

The Radio Plasma Imager investigation on the IMAGE spacecraft

Radio plasma imaging uses total reflection of electromagnetic waves from plasmas whose plasma frequencies equal the radio sounding frequency and whose electron density gradients are parallel to the wave normals. The Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) has two orthogonal 500-m long dipole antennas in the spin plane for near omni-directional transmission. The third antenna is a 20-m dipole along the spin axis. Echoes from the magnetopause, plasmasphere and cusp will be received with the three orthogonal antennas, allowing the determination of their angle-of-arrival. Thus it will be possible to create image fragments of the reflecting density structures. The instrument can execute a large variety of programmable measuring options at frequencies between 3 kHz and 3 MHz. Tuning of the transmit antennas provides optimum power transfer from the 10 W transmitter to the antennas. The instrument can operate in three active sounding modes: (1) remote sounding to probe magnetospheric boundaries, (2) local (relaxation) sounding to probe the local plasma frequency and scalar magnetic field, and (3) whistler stimulation sounding. In addition, there is a passive mode to record natural emissions, and to determine the local electron density, the scalar magnetic field, and temperature by using a thermal noise spectroscopy technique.     

GPS monitoring of vertical seafloor motion at Platform Harvest

We describe results from two decades of monitoring vertical seafloor motion at the Harvest oil platform, NASA’s prime verification site for the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason series of reference altimeter missions. Using continuous GPS observations, we refine estimates of the platform subsidence—due most likely to fluid withdrawal linked to oil production—and describe the impact on estimates of stability for the altimeter measurement systems. The cumulative seafloor subsidence over 20 yrs is approximately 10 cm, but the rate does not appear constant. The apparent non-linear nature of the vertical motion, coupled with long-period GPS errors, implies that the quality of the seafloor motion estimates is not uniform over the 20-yr period. For the Jason-1 era (2002–2009), competing estimates for the subsidence show agreement to better than 1 mm yr⁻¹. Longer durations of data are needed before the seafloor motion estimates for the Jason-2 era (2008–present) can approach this level of accuracy.     

The challenges in long-term altimetry calibration for addressing the problem of global sea level change

Long-term change of the global sea level resulting from climate change has become an issue of great societal interest. The advent of the technology of satellite altimetry has modernized the study of sea level on both global and regional scales. In combination with in situ observations of the ocean density and space observations of Earth’s gravity variations, satellite altimetry has become an essential component of a global observing system for monitoring and understanding sea level change. The challenge of making sea level measurements with sufficient accuracy to discern long-term trends and allow the patterns of natural variability to be distinguished from those linked to anthropogenic forcing rests largely on the long-term efforts of altimeter calibration and validation. The issues of long-term calibration for the various components of the altimeter measurement system are reviewed in the paper. The topics include radar altimetry, the effects of tropospheric water vapor, orbit determination, gravity field, tide gauges, and the terrestrial reference frame. The necessity for maintaining a complete calibration effort and the challenges of sustaining it into the future are discussed.