AAS 96-164

CROSS-CALIBRATION OF ERS-2 RADAR ALTIMETER USING PRECISION ERS ORBITS

C. Rajasenan, M. Anzenhofer, T. Gruber, F-H. Massmann, and Ch. Reigber, GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam

Abstract

The contributions of GFZ/D-PAF towards the calibration of the ERS-2 Radar Altimeter include the computation of precision orbits for both ERS-1 and ERS-2 based on the new GFZ Gravity Model, the PGM055 yielding radial orbit accuracies of about 11 cm. The resulting ephemerides are merged with ESA Radar Altimeter Fast Delivery (RAFD) data together with updated media and geophysical corrections to generate the Quick Look Ocean Product (QLOPR). Analyses using altimeter normal point measurements, double-mission crossover and collinear track differences based on the QLOPRs are used to derive relative bias values between the ERS-2 and ERS-1 altimeters.