Fifteen Years of Cal/Val Service to Reference Altimetry Missions: Calibration of Satellite Altimetry at the Permanent Facilities in Gavdos and Crete, Greece

Mertikas, Stelios P.; Donlon, Craig; Féménias, Pierre; Mavrocordatos, Constantin; Galanakis, Demitris; Tripolitsiotis, Achilles; Frantzis, Xenophon; Tziavos, Ilias N.; Vergos, George; Guinle, Thierry

doi:10.3390/rs10101557

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Fifteen Years of Cal/Val Service to Reference Altimetry Missions: Calibration of Satellite Altimetry at the Permanent Facilities in Gavdos and Crete, Greece

Stelios P. Mertikas

^1,*,

Craig Donlon

²,

Pierre Féménias

³,

Constantin Mavrocordatos

²,

Demitris Galanakis

⁴,

Achilles Tripolitsiotis

⁴,

Xenophon Frantzis

¹,

Ilias N. Tziavos

⁵

George Vergos

⁵

and

Thierry Guinle

⁶

Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, Greece

European Space Agency/European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA/ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands

European Space Agency/European Space Research Institute (ESA/ESRIN), Via Galileo Galilei, I-00044 Frascati, Italy

⁴

Space Geomatica P.C., Xanthoudidou 10A, GR-73132 Chania, Greece

⁵

School of Geodesy and Surveying, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Box 440, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

⁶

Centre National d’ Etudes Spatiales (CNES), 31401 Toulouse CEDEX, France

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Remote Sens. 2018, 10(10), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101557

Received: 10 September 2018 / Revised: 21 September 2018 / Accepted: 24 September 2018 / Published: 27 September 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar Remote Sensing of Oceans and Coastal Areas)

Abstract

Satellite altimetry provides exceptional means for absolute and undisputable monitoring of changes in sea level and inland waters (rivers and lakes), over regional to global scales, with accuracy and with respect to the center of mass of the Earth. Altimetry system’s responses have to be continuously monitored for their quality, biases, errors, drifts, etc. with calibration. Absolute calibration of altimeters is achieved by external and independent to satellite facilities on the ground. This is the mainstay for a continuous, homogenous, and reliable monitoring of the earth and its oceans. This paper describes the development of the Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration in Gavdos/Crete, Greece, as of 2001 along with its infrastructure and instrumentation. Calibration results are presented for the reference missions of Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3. Then, this work continues with the determination of relative calibrations with respect to reference missions for Sentinel-3A, HY-2A, and SARAL/AltiKa. Calibration results are also given for Jason-2 and Jason-3 altimeters using the transponder at the CDN1 Cal/Val site on the mountains of Crete, with simultaneous comparisons against sea-surface calibration and during their tandem mission. Finally, the paper presents procedures for estimating uncertainties for altimeter calibration to meet the Fiducial Reference Measurement standards. View Full-Text

Keywords: altimetry; calibration; Jason; transponder; sea surface; fiducial reference measurements

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mertikas, S.P.; Donlon, C.; Féménias, P.; Mavrocordatos, C.; Galanakis, D.; Tripolitsiotis, A.; Frantzis, X.; Tziavos, I.N.; Vergos, G.; Guinle, T. Fifteen Years of Cal/Val Service to Reference Altimetry Missions: Calibration of Satellite Altimetry at the Permanent Facilities in Gavdos and Crete, Greece. Remote Sens. 2018, 10, 1557. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101557

AMA Style

Mertikas SP, Donlon C, Féménias P, Mavrocordatos C, Galanakis D, Tripolitsiotis A, Frantzis X, Tziavos IN, Vergos G, Guinle T. Fifteen Years of Cal/Val Service to Reference Altimetry Missions: Calibration of Satellite Altimetry at the Permanent Facilities in Gavdos and Crete, Greece. Remote Sensing. 2018; 10(10):1557. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101557

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mertikas, Stelios P., Craig Donlon, Pierre Féménias, Constantin Mavrocordatos, Demitris Galanakis, Achilles Tripolitsiotis, Xenophon Frantzis, Ilias N. Tziavos, George Vergos, and Thierry Guinle. 2018. "Fifteen Years of Cal/Val Service to Reference Altimetry Missions: Calibration of Satellite Altimetry at the Permanent Facilities in Gavdos and Crete, Greece" Remote Sensing 10, no. 10: 1557. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101557

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