Forster et al. (2025) Global Validation of the Version F Geophysical Data Records from the TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimetry Satellite Mission

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-07-12
• Authors: Linda Forster, Jean-Damien Desjonquères, Matthieu Talpe, S. D. Desai, Hélène Roinard, François Bignalet‐Cazalet, Philip S. Callahan, J. K. Willis, Nicolas Picot, Glenn M. Shirtliffe, Thierry Guinle
• DOI: 10.3390/rs17142418

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study validates the version F Geophysical Data Records (GDR-F) for the TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite mission, demonstrating significant improvements in accuracy and consistency over the previous MGDR-B version.

Objective

• To validate the GDR-F products and evaluate the impact of numerical retracking and updated geophysical models on the accuracy of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry data.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (Satellite altimetry)
• Temporal Scale: Long-term (covering the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission duration)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Numerical retracking, updated geophysical model standards, improved sea state bias corrections, and refined orbit ephemeris solutions.
• Data sources: TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite altimetry and Jason-1 GDR-E data (for tandem mission validation).

Main Results

• Bias Reduction: Numerical retracking mitigated long-standing drifts and hemispherical biases in altimeter range and significant wave height.
• Variance Reduction: Along-track Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA) variance decreased by $26\text{ cm}^2$ and crossover SSHA variance decreased by $1\text{ cm}^2$ compared to MGDR-B.
• Inter-mission Consistency: The standard deviation of differences between T/P and Jason-1 measurements during the tandem phase was reduced from $6\text{ cm}$ to $4\text{ cm}$.

Contributions

• Provides a significantly more accurate and consistent TOPEX/POSEIDON data record, enhancing the reliability of long-term sea level studies and improving the continuity between successive altimetry missions.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Forster2025Global,
  author = {Forster, Linda and Desjonquères, Jean-Damien and Talpe, Matthieu and Desai, S. D. and Roinard, Hélène and Bignalet‐Cazalet, François and Callahan, Philip S. and Willis, J. K. and Picot, Nicolas and Shirtliffe, Glenn M. and Guinle, Thierry},
  title = {Global Validation of the Version F Geophysical Data Records from the TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimetry Satellite Mission},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/rs17142418},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142418}
}