ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2018, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 63-70

Physical limitations of the spatial resolution of space radioaltimeters

A.S. Zapevalov 1 
1 Marine Hydrophysical Institute RAS, Sevastopol, Russia
Accepted: 25.09.2017
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2018-15-1-63-70
Errors of recovery of the sea surface characteristics according to vertical radio sounding from spacecraft caused by the group structure of surface waves are analyzed. Errors occur when the dimensions of the local region L for which the characteristics of the wave field are determined become comparable with the length of the wave group LG. The analysis is carried out in the framework of the analytical model describing the wave profile. The model allows to specify the following characteristics: the skewness of surface elevations, the number of waves in the group and the groupiness factor. Numerical simulations show that at a significant wave height of 1 m, the local level can differ by a few centimeters from the mean level, if L < LG. Changes in skewness of the elevations of the local region of the sea surface lead to similar errors in the determination of the level. The magnitude of the error depends on the ratio of the length of the local region and the length of the wave group. The errors in determining the level increase linearly with increasing significant wave height. The group structure is also a source of errors in determining the significant wave height. To ensure that you receive the error in determining the significant wave height no more than 10 %, it is necessary to provide the following condition: the length of the local region for which it is calculated should be more than two times exceed the length of a group of waves.
Keywords: remote sensing, altimeter, level error, significant wave height, wave group structure
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