RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES VOL. 10, ES1002, doi:10.2205/2007ES000262, 2008
[21] The project will adopt an approach starting from the indications of the users, which entails the following points:
[22] 1) identifying and understanding the user needs in terms of problems (e.g., coastal protection from increasing sea level and/or changing wave climate), procedures (e.g., calibrate models), products (e.g., sea level; wave height) and specifications (e.g., accuracy level), on the basis of what is currently available (e.g., tide gauges; wave sensors), and highlighting how altimetry can help (e.g., better coverage);
[23] 2) evaluating what can be done with the "official'' products and what are the major issues, e.g., deficiencies in existing data streams and their handling, quality controls, error components;
[24] 3) determining what data processing steps need to be improved for adding value, e.g., use of available retracked products, use of 10/20 Hz data, correction updates, new processing functions;
[25] 4) addressing the required validation exercises;
[26] 5) going from the sensor measurement to a product, e.g., quality-controlled coastal sea level anomalies and significant wave height;
[27] 6) raising the awareness of altimetry data amongst the user community via a dissemination package;
[28] 7) distributing the products efficiently via a Grid-compliant portal which allows fully functional and custom extraction of optimized data to the users.
[29] In methodological terms, the process will include:
[30] 1) acquiring all available satellite data (1 Hz streams to start with, possibly higher rate streams later) over the regions of interest;
[31] 2) compiling local data sets, including tide gauges, metocean observations and model output;
[32] 3) characterizing the coastal region by taking into account the non-uniform conditions, e.g., bathymetry, land morphology, tides, wind;
[33] 4) analyzing initial data capabilities, e.g., anomalies, critical factors;
[34] 5) building processing chain, e.g., adjust corrections, add new or improved local corrective terms;
[35] 6) defining data match-up exercises, e.g., discrepancies, confidence levels;
[36] 7) building a server for the improved products.
[37] This methodology has two main benefits: a) it will make coastal altimetry data of higher quality than the currently available products, and b) it will make the data immediately available to modellers and data integrators.
Citation: 2008), Exploiting satellite altimetry in coastal ocean through the ALTICORE project, Russ. J. Earth Sci., 10, ES1002, doi:10.2205/2007ES000262.
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