Synergistic Use of the SRAL/MWR and SLSTR Sensors on Board Sentinel-3 for the Wet Tropospheric Correction Retrieval

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

Aguiar, P (Author) Other; Vieira, T (Author) Other; Clara Lazaro (Author) FCUP; Fernandes, MJ (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Remote Sensing

Vol. 96

Final page: 3231

ISSN: 2072-4292

Publisher: MDPI

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00W-X9J

DOI: 10.3390/rs14133231

Abstract (EN): The Sentinel-3 satellites are equipped with dual-band Microwave Radiometers (MWR) to derive the wet tropospheric correction (WTC) for satellite altimetry. The deployed MWR lack the 18 GHz channel, which mainly provides information on the surface emissivity. Currently, this information is considered using additional parameters, one of which is the sea surface temperature (SST) extracted from static seasonal tables. Recent studies show that the use of a dynamic SST extracted from Numerical Weather Models (ERA5) improves the WTC retrieval. Given that Sentinel-3 carries on board the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR), from which SST observations are derived simultaneously with those of the Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter and MWR sensors, this study aims to develop a synergistic approach between these sensors for the WTC retrieval over open ocean. Firstly, the SLSTR-derived SSTs are evaluated against the ERA5 model; secondly, their impact on the WTC retrieval is assessed. The results show that using the SST input from SLSTR, instead of ERA5, has no impact on the WTC retrieval, both globally and regionally. Thus, for the WTC retrieval, there seems to be no advantage in having collocated SST and radiometer observations. Additionally, this study reinforces the fact that the use of dynamic SST leads to a significant improvement over the current Sentinel-3 WTC operational algorithms.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 15