RADIOMETRIC PATH DELAY CALIBRATION OF ERS-2WITH APPLICATION TO ALTIMETRIC RANGE

摘要

The accuracy and stability of the atmospheric wet pathrndelay as measured by the microwave radiometer onboardrnERS-2 is crucial to altimetric measures of sea-levelrnchange. In this study a GPS receiver on an oil platformrnin the North Sea is first used to quantify the ERS-2 radiometic wet path delay for the period 1999-2003. Thernobserved discrepancies between the GPS results and thernradiometer motivate an extended study utilising a networkrnof 13 IGS stations operational for 1995 through tornthe present day. The GPS wet path delays are convertedrnto an equivalent brightness temperature on the 23.8GHzrnchannel and used in a subsequent analysis to determinerna correction formula. The new formulism is validated byrnutilising coldest and mean tempertures for each ERS-2rncycle 1-85.