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Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 12559

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sergey A. Lebedev

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Guest Editor

1. Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Bld. 3, Molodezhnaya St., 119296 Moscow, Russia
2. Department of Higher Mathematics No. 1, National Research University of Electronic Technology (MIET), Bld. 1, Shokin Square, Zelenograd, 124498 Moscow, Russia
3. Department of Physical Geography and Ecology, Faculty of Geography and Geoecology, Tver State University, Bld. 33, Zhelyabova St., 170100 Tver, Russia
Interests: retracking algorithms; calculating correction algorithms; satellite altimetry data interpretation; regional and global climatic change; caspian Sea level and dynamics; water level of rivers; lakes and reservoirs; gravity field
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Satellite-borne radar altimeters have been measuring sea level, wave height, and surface roughness for several decades. Satellite altimetry is widely used in Earth sciences: geodesy, gravimetry, oceanology, climatology, glaciology, hydrology, etc. The development of methods for altimeter waveform processing (retracking); algorithms for calculating troposphere, ionosphere, tidal corrections, and sea state bias; and new devices (delay–Doppler radar or SAR mode altimetry) all enable satellite altimetry to be actively used for coastal zone research of the World Ocean, inland and marginal seas, as well as large lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.

In this Special Issue, state-of-the-art research that specifically addresses the various aspects of using satellite altimetry for investigating coastal zones will be compiled: monitoring systems of sea (water) level and waves; climatic change assessment and the control of anthropogenic influence on the condition of water bodies; joint assimilation of satellite altimetry data and other remote sensing data into regional hydrodynamical models of coastal zones and inland water bodies.

Dr. Sergey A. Lebedev
Guest Editor

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Keywords

coastal zone altimetry
inland and marginal seas
rivers, lakes, and reservoirs
altimetry waveform retracking
surface water levels, waves, and ice conditions
climatic change
monitoring systems

Published Papers (5 papers)

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26 pages, 5494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterizing Coastal Wind Speed and Significant Wave Height Using Satellite Altimetry and Buoy Data

by Panagiotis Mitsopoulos and Malaquias Peña

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(4), 987; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs15040987 - 10 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1635

Abstract

Wind speed and significant wave height are the most relevant metocean variables that support a wide range of engineering and economic activities. Their characterization through remote sensing estimations is required to compensate for the shortage of in situ observations. This study demonstrates the value of satellite altimetry to identify typical spatial patterns of wind speed and significant wave height in the northeastern region of the United States. Data from five altimetry satellite missions were evaluated against the available in situ observations with a 10 km sampling radius and a 30 min time window. An objective analysis of the collective altimeter dataset was performed to create aggregated composite maps of the wind speed and significant wave height. This asynchronous compositing of multi-mission altimeter data is introduced to compile a sufficient sampling of overpasses over the area of interest. The results of this approach allow for quantifying spatial patterns for the wind speed and significant wave height in the summer and winter seasons. The quality of altimeter estimations was assessed regarding the distance from the coast and the topography. It was found that while the altimeter data are highly accurate for the two variables, bias increases near the coast. The average minimum and maximum wind speed values detected in buoy stations less than 40 km from the coast were not matched by the aggregated altimeter time series. The method exposes the spatial and time gaps to be filled using data from future missions. The challenges of the objective analysis near the coast, especially in semi-enclosed areas, and the implications of the altimeter estimations due to the land contamination are explained. The results indicate that the combination of altimetry data from multiple satellite missions provides a significant complementary information resource for nearshore and coastal wind and wave regime estimations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data)

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15 pages, 3430 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of Sentinel-3 Altimetry Data to Assess Wind Speed from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model: Application over the Gulf of Cadiz

by Roberto Mulero-Martinez, Carlos Román-Cascón, Rafael Mañanes, Alfredo Izquierdo, Miguel Bruno and Jesús Gómez-Enri

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(16), 4036; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14164036 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2136

Abstract

This work presents the quality performance and the capabilities of altimetry derived wind speed (WS) retrievals from the altimeters on-board Copernicus satellites Sentinel-3A/B (S3A/B) for the spatial assessment of WS outputs from the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model over the complex area of the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC), Spain. In order to assess the applicability of the altimetry data for this purpose, comparisons between three different WS data sources over the area were evaluated: in situ measurements, S3A/B 20 Hz altimetry data, and WRF model outputs. Sentinel-3A/B WS data were compared against two different moored buoys to guarantee the quality of the data over the GoC, resulting in satisfying scores (average results: RMSE = 1.21 m/s, r = 0.93 for S3A and RMSE = 1.36 m/s, r = 0.89 for S3B). Second, the WRF model was validated with in situ data from four different stations to ensure the correct performance over the area. Finally, the spatial variability of the WS derived from the WRF model was compared with the along-track altimetry-derived WS. The analysis was carried out under different wind synoptic conditions. Qualitative and quantitative results (average RMSE < 1.0 m/s) show agreement between both data sets under low/high wind regimes, proving that the spatial coverage of satellite altimetry enables the spatial assessment of high-resolution numerical weather prediction models in complex water-covered zones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data)

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19 pages, 4128 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coastal Mean Dynamic Topography Recovery Based on Multivariate Objective Analysis by Combining Data from Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter

by Yihao Wu, Jia Huang, Xiufeng He, Zhicai Luo and Haihong Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(1), 240; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14010240 - 05 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2663

Abstract

MDT recovery over coastal regions is challenging, as the mean sea surface (MSS) and geoid/quasi-geoid models are of low quality. The altimetry satellites equipped with the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeters provide more accurate sea surface heights than traditional ones close to the coast. We investigate the role of using the SAR-based MSS in coastal MDT recovery, and the effects introduced by the SAR altimetry data are quantified and assessed. We model MDTs based on the multivariate objective analysis, where the MSS and the recently released satellite-only global geopotential model are combined. The numerical experiments over the coast of Japan and southeastern China show that the use of the SAR-based MSS improves the local MDT. The root mean square (RMS) of the misfits between MDT-modeled with SAR altimetry data and the ocean data is lower than that derived from MDT computed without SAR data—by a magnitude of 4–8 mm. Moreover, the geostrophic velocities derived from MDT modeled with the SAR altimetry data have better fits with buoy data than those derived from MDT modeled without SAR data. In total, our studies highlight the use of SAR altimetry data in coastal MDT recovery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data)

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Graphical abstract

24 pages, 17953 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of Vertical Crustal Movements along the European Coast from Satellite Altimetry, Tide Gauge, GNSS and Radar Interferometry

by Kamil Kowalczyk, Katarzyna Pajak, Beata Wieczorek and Bartosz Naumowicz

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(11), 2173; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13112173 - 02 Jun 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2893

Abstract

The main aim of the article was to analyse the actual accuracy of determining the vertical movements of the Earth’s crust (VMEC) based on time series made of four measurement techniques: satellite altimetry (SA), tide gauges (TG), fixed GNSS stations and radar interferometry. A relatively new issue is the use of the persistent scatterer InSAR (PSInSAR) time series to determine VMEC. To compare the PSInSAR results with GNSS, an innovative procedure was developed: the workflow of determining the value of VMEC velocities in GNSS stations based on InSAR data. In our article, we have compiled 110 interferograms for ascending satellites and 111 interferograms for descending satellites along the European coast for each of the selected 27 GNSS stations, which is over 5000 interferograms. This allowed us to create time series of unprecedented time, very similar to the time resolution of time series from GNSS stations. As a result, we found that the obtained accuracies of the VMEC determined from the PSInSAR are similar to those obtained from the GNSS time series. We have shown that the VMEC around GNSS stations determined by other techniques are not the same. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data)

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Other

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14 pages, 4166 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Validation of Recent Altimeter Missions at Non-Dedicated Tide Gauge Stations in the Southeastern North Sea

by Saskia Esselborn, Tilo Schöne, Julia Illigner, Robert Weiß, Thomas Artz and Xinge Huang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(1), 236; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14010236 - 05 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2114

Abstract

Consistent calibration and monitoring is a basic prerequisite for providing a reliable time series of global and regional sea-level variations from altimetry. The precisions of sea-level measurements and regional biases for six altimeter missions (Jason-1/2/3, Envisat, Saral, Sentinel-3A) are assessed in this study at 11 GNSS-controlled tide gauge stations in the German Bight (SE North Sea) for the period 2002 to 2019. The gauges are partly located at the open water, and partly at the coast close to mudflats. The altimetry is extracted at virtual stations with distances from 2 to 24 km from the gauges. The processing is optimized for the region and adjusted for the comparison with instantaneous tide gauge readings. An empirical correction is developed to account for mean height gradients and slight differences of the tidal dynamics between the gauge and altimetry, which improves the agreement between the two data sets by 15–75%. The precision of the altimeters depends on the location and mission and ranges from 1.8 to 3.7 cm if the precision of the gauges is 2 cm. The accuracy of the regional mission biases is strongly dependent on the mean sea surface heights near the stations. The most consistent biases are obtained based on the CLS2011 model with mission-dependent accuracies from 1.3 to 3.4 cm. Hence, the GNSS-controlled tide gauges operated operationally by the German Waterway and Shipping Administration (WSV) might complement the calibration and monitoring activities at dedicated CalVal stations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Area Observations Based on Satellite Altimetry Data)

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