DocumentCode
1050994
Title
Seasat altimeter sensor file algorithms
Author
Hancock, David W. ; Forsythe, Ronald G. ; Lorell, Jack
Author_Institution
NASA Wallops Flight Center, Wallops Island, VA
Volume
5
Issue
2
fYear
1980
fDate
4/1/1980 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
93
Lastpage
99
Abstract
The Seasat altimeter is designed to measure three parameters important to oceanography: height of the spacecraft above the ocean surface ( 
), significant wave height ( 
), and ocean backscatter coefficient ( 
) from which surface winds may be inferred. Since the measurement process is indirect, and the measurement environment is complicated by many factors affecting the instrument readings, corrections to the raw data are needed before they are used to compute geophysical parameters. These corrections are accomplished by the Seasat altimeter sensor file algorithms. The purpose of this paper is to describe these algorithms, why they are needed, how they are implemented, and their evaluation using in-flight data.
), significant wave height ( ), and ocean backscatter coefficient ( ) from which surface winds may be inferred. Since the measurement process is indirect, and the measurement environment is complicated by many factors affecting the instrument readings, corrections to the raw data are needed before they are used to compute geophysical parameters. These corrections are accomplished by the Seasat altimeter sensor file algorithms. The purpose of this paper is to describe these algorithms, why they are needed, how they are implemented, and their evaluation using in-flight data.Keywords
Radar altimetry; Sea surface electromagnetic scattering; Backscatter; Geophysical measurements; Instruments; Laboratories; Oceans; Propulsion; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Space vehicles; Surface waves;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Journal of
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
0364-9059
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/JOE.1980.1145464
Filename
1145464
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