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...
A formalism is presented for quantifying the sampling error of an arbitrary linear estimate of a time-averaged quantity constructed from a time series of irregularly spaced observations at a fixed location. The method is applicable to any irregularly sampled time series; it is applied here to satellite observations of chlorophyll...
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...
Mean-squared errors of surface geostrophic velocity estimates from the crossover and parallel-track methods are calculated for altimeters in the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Poseidon and Jason orbits. As part of the crossover method analysis, the filtering properties and errors of cross-track speed estimates are examined. Velocity estimates from both the crossover...
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...
Sampling patterns and sampling errors from various scatterometer datasets are examined. Four single and two tandem scatterometer mission scenarios are considered. The single scatterometer missions are ERS (with a single, narrow swath), NSCAT and ASCAT (dual swaths), and QuikSCAT (a single, broad swath obtained from the SeaWinds instrument). The two...
Satellite observations of wind stress and sea surface temperature (SST) are analyzed to investigate ocean–atmosphere interaction in the California Current System (CCS). As in regions of strong SST fronts elsewhere in the World Ocean, SST in the CCS region is positively correlated with surface wind stress when SST fronts are...
