NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Societal Benefits of Ocean Altimetry DataThe NASA/CNES Jason satellite, follow-on to the highly successful TOPEX/Poseidon mission, continues to provide oceanographers and marine operators across the globe with a continuous twelve-year, high quality stream of sea surface height data. The mission is expected to extend through 2007, when the NASA/NOAA/CNES follow-on mission, OSTM, will be launched with the wide-swath ocean altimeter on board. This unprecedented resource of valuable ocean data is being used to map sea surface height, geostrophic velocity, significant wave height, and wind speed over the global oceans. Altimeter data products are currently used by hundreds of researchers and operational users to monitor ocean circulation and improve our understanding of the role of the oceans in climate and weather. Ocean altimeter data has many societal benefits and has proven invaluable in many practical applications including; a) Ocean forecasting systems; b) Climate research and forecasting; c) Ship routing; d) Fisheries management; e) Marine mammal habitat monitoring; f) Hurricane forecasting and tracking; g) Debris tracking; and h) Precision marine operations such as cable-laying and oil production. The data has been cited in nearly 2,000 research and popular articles since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992, and almost 200 scientific users receive the global coverage altimeter data on a monthly basis. In addition to the scientific and operational uses of the data, the educational community has seized the unique concepts highlighted by these altimeter missions as a resource for teaching ocean science to students from grade school through college. This presentation will highlight societal benefits of ocean altimetry data in the areas of climate studies, marine operations, marine research, and non-ocean investigations.
Document ID
20070019836
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Srinivasen, Margaret
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Leben, Robert
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
September 20, 2004
Subject Category
Oceanography
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Geophysics and Remote Sensing Symposium, (IGARSS)
Location: Anchorage, AK
Country: United States
Start Date: September 20, 2004
End Date: September 24, 2004
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
sea surface height
applications
TOPEX
operational oceanography
ocean surface topography

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available