Articles | Volume 19, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-363-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-363-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 Mar 2023
Research article |
| 31 Mar 2023
| 31 Mar 2023
Global submesoscale diagnosis using along-track satellite altimetry
Ocean and Climate Department, CLS Space
Oceanography, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France
Université de
Toulouse, LEGOS (CNES/CNRS/IRD/UPS), Toulouse,
France
Rosemary Morrow
Université de
Toulouse, LEGOS (CNES/CNRS/IRD/UPS), Toulouse,
France
Marie-Isabelle Pujol
Ocean and Climate Department, CLS Space
Oceanography, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France
Gérald Dibarboure
CNES, Toulouse,
France
Clément Ubelmann
Datlas, Grenoble,
France
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Oceanic eddies are the structures carrying most of the energy in our oceans. They are key to climate regulation and nutrient transport. We prepare for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, studying eddy dynamics in the region south of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, using models and simulated satellite data. SWOT will provide insights into the structures smaller than what is currently observable, which appear to greatly contribute to eddy kinetic energy and strain.
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Marie-Isabelle Pujol, Stéphanie Dupuy, Oscar Vergara, Antonio Sánchez-Román, Yannice Faugère, Pierre Prandi, Mei-Ling Dabat, Quentin Dagneaux, Marine Lievin, Emeline Cadier, Gérald Dibarboure, and Nicolas Picot
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-292, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-292, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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An altimeter sea level along-track level-3 product with a 5 Hz (~1.2 km) sampling is proposed. It takes advantage of recent advances in radar altimeter processing, and improvements made to different stages of the processing chain. Compared to the conventional 1 Hz (~7 km) product, it significantly improves the observability of the short wavelength signal in open ocean and near coast areas (> 5 km). It also contributes to improving high resolution numerical model outputs via data assimilation.
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The SSH analysis and 7 d forecast error will be globally reduced by almost 50 %. Surface current forecast errors should be equivalent to today’s surface current analysis errors or alternatively will be improved (variance error reduction) by 30 % at the surface and 50 % for 300 m depth.
The resolution capabilities will be drastically improved and will be closer to 100 km wavelength as opposed to today where they are above 250 km (on average).
Clément Ubelmann, Loren Carrere, Chloé Durand, Gérald Dibarboure, Yannice Faugère, Maxime Ballarotta, Frédéric Briol, and Florent Lyard
Ocean Sci., 18, 469–481, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-469-2022, 2022
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The signature of internal tides has become an important component for high-resolution altimetry over oceans. Several studies have proposed some solutions to resolve part of these internal tides based on the altimetry record. Following these studies, we propose here a new inversion approach aimed to mitigate aliasing with other dynamics. After a description of the methodology, the solution for the main tidal components has been successfully validated against independent observations.
Cori Pegliasco, Antoine Delepoulle, Evan Mason, Rosemary Morrow, Yannice Faugère, and Gérald Dibarboure
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1087–1107, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1087-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1087-2022, 2022
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The new global Mesoscale Eddy Trajectory Atlases (META3.1exp) provide eddy identification and trajectories from altimetry maps. These atlases comprise an improvement to and continuation of the historical META2.0 product. Changes in the detection parameters and tracking were tested by comparing the eddies from the different datasets. In particular, the eddy contours available in META3.1exp are an asset for multi-disciplinary studies.
Pierre Prandi, Jean-Christophe Poisson, Yannice Faugère, Amandine Guillot, and Gérald Dibarboure
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5469–5482, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5469-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5469-2021, 2021
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We investigate how mapping sea level in the Arctic Ocean can benefit from combining data from three satellite radar altimeters: CryoSat-2, Sentinel-3A and SARAL/AltiKa. A dedicated processing for SARAL/AltiKa provides a baseline for the cross-referencing of CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3A before mapping. We show that by combining measurements coming from three missions, we are able to increase the resolution of gridded sea level fields in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean.
Sandrine Mulet, Marie-Hélène Rio, Hélène Etienne, Camilia Artana, Mathilde Cancet, Gérald Dibarboure, Hui Feng, Romain Husson, Nicolas Picot, Christine Provost, and P. Ted Strub
Ocean Sci., 17, 789–808, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-789-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-789-2021, 2021
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Satellite altimetry has revolutionized ocean observation by allowing the sea level to be monitored with very good spatiotemporal coverage. However, only the sea level anomalies are retrieved; to monitor the whole oceanic signal a temporal mean (called mean dynamic topography, MDT) must be added to these anomalies. In this study we present the newly updated CNES-CLS18 MDT. An evaluation of this new solution shows significant improvements in both strong currents and coastal areas.
Loren Carrere, Brian K. Arbic, Brian Dushaw, Gary Egbert, Svetlana Erofeeva, Florent Lyard, Richard D. Ray, Clément Ubelmann, Edward Zaron, Zhongxiang Zhao, Jay F. Shriver, Maarten Cornelis Buijsman, and Nicolas Picot
Ocean Sci., 17, 147–180, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-147-2021, 2021
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Internal tides can have a signature of several centimeters at the ocean surface and need to be corrected from altimeter measurements. We present a detailed validation of several internal-tide models using existing satellite altimeter databases. The analysis focuses on the main diurnal and semidiurnal tidal constituents. Results show the interest of the methodology proposed, the quality of the internal-tide models tested and their positive contribution for estimating an accurate sea level.
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Short summary
Recent advances allow us to observe the ocean from space with increasingly higher detail, challenging our knowledge of the ocean's surface height signature. We use a statistical approach to determine the spatial scale at which the sea surface height signal is no longer dominated by geostrophic turbulence but in turn becomes dominated by wave-type motions. This information helps us to better use the data provided by ocean-observing satellites and to gain knowledge on climate-driving processes.
Recent advances allow us to observe the ocean from space with increasingly higher detail,...
