Seasat Altimeter Calibration: Initial Results
B. D. TAPLEY 1,
G. H. BORN 2,
H. H. HAGAR 2,
J. LORELL 2,
M. E. PARKE 2,
J. M. DIAMANTE 3,
B. C. DOUGLAS 3,
C. C. GOAD 3,
R. KOLENKIEWICZ 4,
J. G. MARSH 4,
C. F. MARTIN 5,
S. L. SMITH III 6,
W. F. TOWNSEND 7,
J. A. WHITEHEAD 8,
H. M. BYRNE 9,
L. S. FEDOR 10,
D. C. HAMMOND 11, and
N. M. MOGNARD 12
1 University of Texas Austin 78712
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91103
3 National Ocean Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, Maryland 20852
4 Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
5 Washington Analytical Services Center, Wolf Research and Development Group, Pocomoke City, Maryland 21851
6 Naval Surface Weapons Center, Dahlgren Laboratory, Dahlgren, Virginia 22448
7 Wallops Flight Center, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337
8 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
9 Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington 98105
10 Wave Propagation Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado 80302
11 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375
12 Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, Toulouse, France
Preliminary analysis of radar altimeter data indicates that the instrument has met its specifications for measuring spacecraft height above the ocean surface (± 10 centimeters) and significant wave height (± 0.5 meter). There is ample evidence that the radar altimeter, having undergone development through three earth orbit missions [Skylab, Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite 3 (GEOS-3), and Seasat], has reached a level of precision that now makes possible its use for important quantitative oceanographic investigations and practical applications.
Submitted on April 20, 1979
