Régional and L4P product

Polars areas

Objectif

The main objectif of this goal is to  provide an estimate of sea surface height over ice-covered areas

Figure: Illustration of the sea level anomalies L4 product in polar areas

Achievements and Challenges

Enabled by:

  • Enhanced DUACS processing methods to handle altimetric data in ice fracture zones (Veillard et al., 2024).
  • Specific upstream inputs tailored to the specular echoes available in fracture zones.

Major Challenge: Ensuring the continuity of polar products with those from the open ocean.

Current Status: Experimental/demonstrative products have been available on AVISO+ since 2021.

 

L3 5Hz and coastal

Objectif

This resolution makes it possible to better resolve small mesoscale features (up to ~40 km) and coastal zones.

Figure: Illustration of the sea level anomalies L3 1Hz (top) and 5Hz (bottom) products in the Alboran sea

Achievements and Progress

Enabled by:

    • L3 products sampled at 5Hz (~1 km), based on 20Hz upstream data with specific retracking or corrections that significantly reduce noise levels (Pujol et al., 2023).

Availability: Products have been included in the Copernicus Marine Service catalog since November 2022.

Ongoing R&D: Efforts to improve altimeter processing specifically for coastal areas (See poster #43).

 

L4P product

Objectif

  • Dérivé des produits L4 DUACS pour soutenir les analyses et applications océaniques avancées.

Key Features

  • Oceanic Indicators: Provide critical insights for monitoring the state of the ocean (Bessière et al., 2013).
  • Lyapunov Exponents: Help detect the position of fronts and filaments, aiding in understanding ocean dynamics (d’Ovidio et al., 2004).
  • Eddies Atlas: Tracks the characteristics of mesoscale eddies from their formation to dissipation, supporting mesoscale research (Pegliasco et al., 2022).

Figure: Illustration of DUACS EKE (left) and mesoscale eddies detection (right)