GOCE USER TOOLBOX SPECIFICATION (GUTS) - CONSOLIDATING USER REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GOCE USER TOOLBOX

摘要

Data from the ESA GOCE mission are of fundamental importance to the oceanographic community. However, no ocean circulation products are planned to be delivered as level-2 products as part of the GOCE project. A strong need therefore exists, for oceanographers, to further process the GOCE level-2 geoid and merge it with Radar Altimetry. This need, and subsequent recommendations for optimal use of GOCE data by oceanographers, was explicitly expressed during the second International GOCE Workshop. A synthesis of the main recommendations has been published in the GOCE workshop proceedings. The primary requirement of oceanographers is to have access to a geoid and its error covariance at the highest spatial resolution and accuracy possible, although required resolution depends on application. For effective use of the geoid data, knowledge of the error covariance is mandatory so that the previous geoid product has to be delivered with the corresponding covariance matrices. Within the GUTS project the user requirements for GOCE User Toolbox associated with geodetic, oceanographic and solid earth applications are consolidated.