AAS 96-204

ALTIMETER DATA TREATMENT AND ORBIT SELECTION FOR TOPEX/POSEIDON AND ERS-1

J. J. Martinez Benjamin and D. Sanchez Ariz, Unversitat Politecnica de Catlunya, Spain

Abstract

In the first part is presented the characteristics of the orbits of the altimetric satellites and their incidence in mission analysis. It is discussed some aspects of the motion and the temporal and spatial distribution of their measurements with emphasis on the orbital altitude, inclination and repetition period. The second part describes the development of processing algorithms for the computer treatment of TOPEX/POSEIDON and ERS-1 altimeter data from CD-ROM media, orbit track identification, implementation of new analysis and visualization of oceanographic features.