A simple statistic is derived for quantifying the potential for the aliasing of tidal errors in a given linear estimate of sea surface height constructed from altimeter data. The existence of M2 tidal constituent errors in Geosat data processed in the traditional way (i.e., with orbit errors removed using least...
Alias periods and wavelengths for the M2, S2, N2, K1, O1, and P1 tidal constituents are calculated for TOPEX/POSEIDON. Alias wavelengths calculated in previous studies are shown to be in error, and a correct method is presented. With the exception of the K1 constituent, all of these tidal aliases for...
Westward propagating Gaussian eddies with statistical characteristics estimated from altimeter observations but with purely random starting locations and times produce striated features in time-averaged maps of zonal velocity. The striations in these simulations have magnitudes and meridional scales comparable to those reported from time-averaged altimeter observations and model output in...
Satellite measurements of sea-surface temperature (SST) by the TRMM Microwave Imager reveal previously unreported features of tropical instability waves (TIWs). In the Pacific, TIW-related variability is observed from the eastern boundary to at least 160°E. Cusp-shaped distortions of SST fronts and associated trains of anticyclonic vortices both north and south...
The circulation of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean is dominated by the Subtropical Gyre
and the confluence of the Brazil and Malvinas currents. Observations indicate that the latitude
of this confluence changes seasonally, lying farther north during the austral winter than during
the summer. This phenomenon has important consequences for the...
A mean reference surface and time-dependent orbit errors are estimated simultaneously for
each exact-repeat ground track from the first two years of Geosat sea level estimates based on
the Goddard Earth model (GEM)-T2 orbits. Motivated by orbit theory and empirical analysis of
Geosat data, the time-dependent orbit errors are modeled...
The variability of sea level and surface geostrophic currents in the Southern Ocean is investigated from the first 26 months of unclassified Geosat altimeter data (November 1986 to December 1988). Because of problems unique to Geosat, it has been necessary to develop new techniques for analyzing the height data. These...
Satellite measurements of surface wind stress from the QuikSCAT scatterometer and sea surface temperature (SST) from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager are analyzed for the three-month period 21 July–20 October 1999 to investigate ocean–atmosphere coupling in the eastern tropical Pacific. Oceanic tropical instability waves (TIWs) with periods of...
A technique previously developed for assessing the effects of sampling errors on sea surface height (SSH) fields constructed from satellite altimeter data is extended to include measurement errors, thus providing estimates of the total mean-squared error of the SSH fields. The measurement error contribution becomes an important consideration with the...