USING HIGH RATE ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS FOR COASTAL STUDIES: EXAMPLE IN THE NW MEDITERRANEAN SEA

摘要

Appropriate data (re)processing and analysis allow the optimisation of the informations which can be derived from altimeter measurements. This is particularly true in the coastal zone where data are generally discarded due to problems with the altimeter radar echoes or to inaccurate corrections, but also because the standard processing is not tuned for ocean marginal regions. This results in a relatively large (10-40 km) data gap next to the coast in standard altimetric products. Even if this remains a very challenging exercise, several scientific groups work on extending satellite altimetric products into the shelf and coastal seas, by means of appropriate corrections and data (re)processing. Here, the potential of full rate measurements will be analysed in the context of coastal studies in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.