Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development
Open Access

Abstract

Satellite radar altimetry is today considered a mature technique in open Ocean. The data stream from the various satellite missions are routinely used for a number of applications. In the last decade, significant research has been carried out into overcoming the problems to extend the capabilities of radar altimeters to the coastal zone with the aim to integrate the altimeter-derived measurements of sea level, wind speed and significant wave height into coastal ocean observing systems. More/better (and new) datasets are being produced. Moreover, the advent of new satellite missions, both nadir-viewing (e.g., Sentinel-3) and wide-swath (e.g. SWOT), should globally improve both quantity and quality of coastal altimetry data. In this talk, after a brief review of the challenges in coastal altimetry and description of the new products, we showcase some application examples how the new products can be exploited and we discuss directions for a global coastal altimetry dataset as an asset for long term monitoring of sea level and sea state in the coastal ocean.

Biography

Email: vignudelli@pi.ibf.cnr.it