An altimeter measures how high something is.
Satellite radar altimeter.
Operating at 13 6 or 35 75 ghz each altimeter emits a series of microwave pulses towards the surface.
The altimeter emits a radar beam that is reflected back to the antenna from the earth s surface.
This measurement is performed through the recording of the pulse bounced back by the reflecting facets within the altimeter footprint.
This type of altimeter provides the distance between the antenna and the ground directly below it in contrast to a.
Poseidon 2 operates at two frequencies 13 6 ghz in the ku band 5 3 ghz in the c band to determine atmospheric electron content which affects the radar signal path delay.
This measurement yields a wealth of information that can be used for a wide range of applications in particular for understanding sea level rise.
A satellite based radar altimeter needs to measure the distance accurately but only for an essentially planar surface oriented orthogonally to the radar s line of sight.
Combining the physical explanation of the function fitting and the high adaptability of empirical statistical methods we effort to provide a comprehensive method for processing the waveforms over the open ocean and coastal area.
A satellite radar altimeter is not an imaging device but a nadir pointing instrument continuously recording average surface spot heights directly below the satellite as it transverses over the earth s surface.
The reference ellipsoid and the satellite to surface range calculated by.
The principle is that the altimeter emits a radar wave and analyses the return signal that bounces off the surface.
Hence ocean viewing altimeters have a small range window whose position tracks the delay and strength of the surface reflection.
Surface height is the difference between the satellite s position on orbit with respect to an arbitrary reference surface the earth s centre or a rough approximation of the earth s surface.
Satellite radar altimeters measure the ocean surface height sea level by measuring the time it takes a radar pulse to make a round trip from the satellite to the sea surface and back.
Satellite radar altimetry measures the time taken by a radar pulse to travel from the satellite antenna to the surface and back to the satellite receiver.
Bathymetry is measurement of the depth of the ocean.