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RADAR ALTIMETERS  

Definition

  • The radar altimeter is a short pulse, nadir viewing radar designed to mesure precisely the distance from the satelite to the Earth surface. The instrument can also measure the shape of the returned pulse and the backscattering cross section. The latter two measurements permit inference of significant wave height and wind speed. The significant wave height can be inferred from the slope of the leading edge of the returned pulse and the wind speed can be inferred from the rqdar cross section. Higher waves tend to decrease the slope of the leading edge of the pulse and also the backscattering, thus leading to the inference of the presence of higher winds. The major component of information derived from a nadir altimeter pertains to the geoid and small-scale anomalies. These anomalies may be caused by sea mounts, trenches, ocean currents, and fronts. _________________________________________________________________ Entry taken from: Rao, P.K., S.J. Holmes, R.K. Anderson, J.S. Winston, P.E. Lehr, Weather Satellites: Systems, Data, and Environmental Applications, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1990. ISBN 0-933876-66-1 Reference online documentation: "http://earth.esa.int/services/esa_doc/doc_gen.html" "http://esapub.esrin.esa.it" For any query, please refer to: ESA/ESRIN Earth Observation Help Desk "http://earth.esa.int" E-mail: eohelp@esa.int Phone: +39 06 94180777 Fax: +39 06 94180292 Address: ESA/ESRIN Via G.Galilei 00044 Frascati Italy (en)

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Change note

  • 2021-08-04 17:02:56.0 [sritz] insert AltLabel (id: null category: primary text: RADAR ALTIMETERS language code: en);

URI

https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/f6420e37-932b-4550-b8dc-fab4ba91d680

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