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Abstract: The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) and the Department of Earth Sciences (DES) of Liverpool University (LU) intend to employ data from the Jason-1 mission in several areas of research. The work is a continuation of research with TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) data, with some new directions. The areas overlap, but common themes include the use of in situ data (tide gauges, bottom pressure recorders, etc.) to validate and complement Jason-1 altimetry; the use of numerical models to compare or assimilate altimeter data; and a geographical concentration of interest in the Atlantic Ocean, although other regional and global studies (e.g., of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, or of global ocean dynamics or of global tidal loading) are also included.
Exploitation of a sea level/bottom pressure network in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans Since 1983, POL has operated a network of seven tide gauges in the South Atlantic and Antarctica, and has deployed bottom pressure recorders (BPRs) at the Drake Passage and other sites, in a programme called ACCLAIM (Antarctic Circumpolar Current Levels by Altimetry and Island Measurements). It is our intention to maintain the tide gauge network of ACCLAIM for the foreseeable future as part of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), which is one of the first components of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). This extensive network has applications in a number of scientific areas: as UK contributions to GLOSS development; for the construction of indices of ACC flow at high southern latitudes inaccessible by altimetry; for ongoing regional validation of altimetry (GLOSS-ALT); in combination with altimetry for studies of meteorological influences on sea level variability; and, in the case of BP measurements, for the determination of additional tidal constants in the Southern Ocean where K1-Ssa ambiguity from T/P and Jason-1 altimetry alone is large.
Argentine Basin bottom pressure coherence experiment
The objective of this experiment is to compare bottom pressure measurements in the Argentine Basin to T/P and Jason altimetry as part of an ongoing programme to assess the scales of coherence of bottom pressure fluctuations and their dynamical significance. During the GRACE mission (scheduled for launch early 2002), analysis will be extended to include remotely-sensed bottom pressure for the study of signals of "barotropic hot spots" observed in the different data types (altimetry, bottom pressure, space gravity). Theory suggests that the combination of sea levels and bottom pressure satellite measurements will provide powerful constraints on deep ocean dynamics, as discussed at an important scientific meeting on space gravity and bottom pressures hosted by POL at the Royal Society in April 1999. Also on the subject of space gravity missions, we note here that POL has been actively involved in planning the European Space Agency's Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer Mission (GOCE), which will also be of major benefit to ocean circulation studies by enabling us to determine the absolute circulation from large to small wavelengths.
Assessing changes We shall use open ocean satellite altimetry to estimate the time-varying and steady circulation, as well as to understand the controlling dynamical processes. Of particular interest is reducing the uncertainty in estimating the volume transport and heat content associated with ocean gyres within basins. A novel combination of an ocean thermocline model and the dynamic height evaluated from T/P has already been used to estimate the ocean transport of volume over the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic. This approach has identified the relative importance of surface and lateral boundary conditions in controlling the gyre transport. It is important now to assess how interannual variations in surface forcing are connected with interannual variability of the gyre circulation, as well as the impact on heat fluxes and tracer distributions. The role of mesoscale eddies in likewise transferring momentum, heat and tracers has been studied in idealized modeling experiments, which in particular reveal how eddies can advect properties (even up-gradient) as well as diffuse them. Previous studies will be extended to address the interannual variability of ocean gyres through a combination of diagnostics of altimetric and hydrographic data, as well as conducting experiments with general circulation models to identify the controlling processes.
European shelf edge studies
This experiment has three objectives: (1) to estimate the scales of surface elevation transferred between ocean, shelf and coast, and the extent of on-shelf penetration; (2) to relate variable ocean-shelf differences in surface elevation to processes, especially along-slope flow, wind and possibly density-related ocean-shelf exchange;
This study will focus on the shelf north of Scotland, which is nearly parallel to altimeter tracks and has adjacent permanent tide gauges for comparison data. Present measurements of currents on the slopes in Nordic WOCE and the EU project MAIA relating coastal sea levels to North Atlantic warm-water flows to the Nordic Seas are planned to continue. For objectives (2) and (3), an ocean model, with assimilation of surface elevation data and some (coarse) representation of the shelf, will be coupled with a model of the continental shelf and slope. The study should provide a methodology for assimilation of surface elevations from altimetry to an ocean model driving a shelf-sea model in turn; estimates of transfer scales in some contrasted contexts; and estimates of relations between elevations and North Sea in-out-flows.
Regional and global ocean tide modeling and tidal loading
Data from the T/P project have enabled major improvements in global ocean tide models. We expect that similar improvements will also eventually be achieved in regional and local modeling, as, for example, authors employ T/P and Jason-1 data for model boundary conditions.
Ongoing altimeter calibration
The objective is to provide a collaborative mechanism for ongoing altimeter calibration by use of either dedicated calibration sites and/or through the global tide gauge network. In collaboration with Newcastle University, POL has in the past undertaken both "absolute" and "relative" calibrations for T/P and ERS-1/2, and these exercises will be continued for Jason-1.
More information?
A longer version of this report, containing more background information and details of other areas of work, is available from the corresponding author.
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