Mapping mesoscale currents by optimal interpolation of satellite radiometer and altimeter data |
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| Authors: | John L Wilkin Melissa M Bowen William J Emery |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA e-mail: wilkin@imcs.rutgers.edu, US;(2) National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand, NZ;(3) University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, US |
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| Abstract: | Mapping the mesoscale surface velocity stream function by combining estimates of surface height from satellite altimetry
and surface currents from sequential infrared (sea-surface temperature) imagery using optimal interpolation is described.
Surface currents are computed from infrared images by the method of maximum cross-correlations (MCC) and are combined with
altimeter sea-level anomaly data from the TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS satellites. The analysis method was applied to 6 years of
data from the East Australian Current region. The covariance of velocity and sea-level data is consistent with the statistical
assumptions of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, with typical length scales of order 220 km and time scales of 10 days in
this region. Augmenting the analysis of altimeter data with MCC velocity observations improves the resolution of the surface
currents, especially near the Australian coast, and demonstrates that the two data sources provide consistent and complementary
observations of the surface mesoscale circulation. The volume of MCC data is comparable to that from a satellite altimeter,
but with a more variable distribution of spatial and temporal resolution. In concert with altimetry, satellite radiometer
velocimetry represents a technique useful for retrospective analysis of currents from high-resolution satellite radiometer
data-sets.
Received: 3 July 2001 / Accepted: 16 November 2001 |
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| Keywords: | Mesoscale currents Optimal interpolation Covariance scales Altimeter Radiometer East Australian Current |
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