A Fully-Focused SAR Omega-K Closed-Form Algorithm for the Sentinel-6 Radar Altimeter: Methodology and Applications

The 2-D frequency-based omega-K method is known to be a suitable algorithm for fully focused SAR (FF-SAR) radar altimeter processors, as its computational efficiency is much higher than equivalent time-based alternatives without much performance degradation. In this article, we provide a closed-form description of a 2-D frequency-domain omega...

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...

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission: Enhanced continuity of satellite sea level measurements from space

Given the considerable range of applications within the European Union Copernicus system, sustained satellite altimetry missions are required to address operational, science and societal needs. This article describes the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission that is designed to provide precision sea level, sea surface height, significant wave height,...

The second-order effect of Earth’s rotation on Cryosat-2 fully focused SAR processing

We investigated the sensitivity of fully focused SAR (FF-SAR) processing of Cryosat-2 altimeter data to Earth rotation. Earth’s rotation causes scatterers at varying cross-track locations to have a different relative velocity with respect to the satellite. This second-order effect of Earth rotation on the phase is currently not corrected for...

The performance of CryoSat-2 fully-focussed SAR for inland water-level estimation

This paper applies the Fully-Focussed SAR (FF-SAR) algorithm to CryoSat-2 full-bit-rate data to measure water levels of lakes and canals in the Netherlands, and validates these measurements by comparing them to heights measured by gauges. Over Lake IJssel, a medium-sized lake, the FF-SAR height is biased about 6 cm below the gauge height, and...

Ocean Bottom Deformation Due To Present-Day Mass Redistribution and Its Impact on Sea Level Observations

Present-day mass redistribution increases the total ocean mass and, on average, causes the ocean bottom to subside elastically. Therefore, barystatic sea level rise is larger than the resulting global mean geocentric sea level rise, observed by satellite altimetry and GPS-corrected tide gauges. We use realistic estimates of mass...