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OAS accession Detail for 0053521, meta_version: 2. Current meta_version is: 14
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Title: The Geosat Altimeter T2 Geophysical Data Records for the Exact Repeat Mission (NODC Accession 0053521)
Abstract: This accession contains a copy of previous NODC CD_ROM product of "the Geosat Altimeter T2 GDRs for the Exact Repeat Mission" for the time period of November 08, 1986 to December 30, 1989. The original six CD-ROMs were prepared by National Ocean Service, NOAA. Parameters include: time, orbit, latitude/longitude, and sea surface height. Corrections to the data include: sea level, and wave data, geoid height, tides, dry and wet troposphere, ionosphere corrections.

The US Navy Geodetic Satellite (Geosat) radar altimeter mission lasted for nearly 5 years (March 1985 to January 1990) and collected approximately 750 million measurements of sea level, wave height, and wind speed over the global oceans. During the Geodetic Mission (GM, March 1985 to September 1986), the satellite did not repeat its ground track for the duration of the mission. The orbit of the satellite was changed in early 1988 to begin the Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) which lasted from November 1988 until the satellite quit functioning in January 1990. During the ERM, the satellite repeated its ground track every 17 days.

Responsibility for producing the ERM Geophysical Data Records
(GDRs) for the scientific community was given to NOAA's National
Ocean Service (Cheney et al. 1987), and these data were
distributed during the mission through the NOAA National
Oceanographic Data Center. Because these data are based on the
operational satellite orbits computed by the Naval Astronautics
Group (NAG), we refer to this original release of data as the NAG
GDRs. A new, more accurate satellite ephemeris has since been
computed for the ERM by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
(Haines et al. 1990). We have incorporated these new orbits,
more precise by an order of magnitude, in a new set of T2 GDRs
(so called because the orbits are based on the GEM-T2 gravity
model of Marsh et al. 1989).

In addition to the improved orbit, the T2 GDRs contain other
new fields which significantly increase the overall accuracy of
the Geosat data. The most important of these is the wet
troposphere correction which has been derived from satellite
sensors operating during the Geosat mission. Through July 1987
water vapor was retrieved by Emery et al. (1990) from the TIROS
Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) and thereafter by Wentz
(1989) from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I). These
new water vapor corrections represent a vast improvement (see
Zimbelman and Busalacchi 1990) over the Fleet Numerical
Oceanographic Center (FNOC) value provided in the NAG GDRs. An
auxiliary dry troposphere correction based on the European Center
for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) model is also
provided in the new GDRs, enabling substitution for the FNOC
value. Finally, the T2 GDRs incorporate a more accurate geoid
model (Rapp and Pavlis 1990) and modifications to the ocean tide
model.
Date received: 19911001
Start date: 19861108
End date: 19891230
Seanames: World-Wide Distribution
West boundary: -180
East boundary: 180
North boundary: 72
South boundary: -72
Observation types: derived products, satellite data
Instrument types: satellite sensor - altimeter
Datatypes: ALTIMETRY - SEA SURFACE HEIGHT, SEA HEIGHT, SEA SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY, TIDE HEIGHT, WAVE HEIGHT, WAVE HEIGHT - SIGNIFICANT
Submitter:
Submitting institution: US DOC; NOAA; National Ocean Service - Rockville, MD
Collecting institutions: Johns Hopkins University; Applied Physics Laboratory, US Navy
Contributing projects: ABCS
Platforms: GEOSAT (3290)
Number of observations:
Supplementary information: REFERENCES

Cheney, R.E., B.C. Douglas, R.W. Agreen, L. Miller, D.L. Porter,
and N.S. Doyle, 1987. Geosat altimeter geophysical data record user
handbook, NOAA Tech. Memo. NOS NGS 46, 32 pp., National Ocean
Service, Rockville, MD.

Cheney, R.E., N.S. Doyle, B.C. Douglas, R.W. Agreen, L. Miller,
E.L. Timmerman, and D.C. McAdoo, 1991. The complete Geosat altimeter
GDR handbook, NOAA Manual NOS NGS 7, National Ocean Service,
Rockville, MD.

Emery, W.J., G.H. Born, D.C. Baldwin, and C.L. Norris, 1990. Satellite-
derived water vapor corrections for Geosat altimetry, J. Geophys.
Res., 95 (C3), 2953-2964.

Haines, B.J., G.H. Born, G.W. Rosborough, J.G. Marsh, and R.G.
Williamson, 1990. Precise orbit computation for the Geosat exact repeat
mission, J. Geophys. Res., 95 (C3), 2871-2886.

Marsh, J.G., et al., 1989. The GEM-T2 gravitational model, NASA Tech.
Memo. 100746, 94 pp., Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.

Rapp, R.H. and N.K. Pavlis, 1990. The development and analysis of
geopotential coefficient models to spherical harmonic degree 360,
J. Geophys. Res., 95 (B13), 21885-21911.

Wentz, F., 1989. User's manual for the collocated Geosat SSM/I tape,
Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, CA.

Zimbelman, D.F., and A.J. Busalacchi, 1990. The wet tropospheric range
correction: product intercomparisons and the simulated effect for
tropical Pacific altimeter retrievals, J. Geophys. Res., 95 (C3),
2899-2922.
Availability date: 19911001
Metadata version: 2
Keydate: 2009-05-06 19:55:46+00
Editdate: 2009-05-06 21:08:47+00