Platform Harvest sea level measurement comparisons

Abstract

Three in situ water level measurement systems have been installed on Platform Harvest in support of the TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite Verification Experiment. Each of the systems have fundamentally different instrument configurations, which provides a unique simultaneous set of measurements in a deep water‐exposed near‐shore environment. Each of the sensor “zeros”; have also been referenced to the same datum as a requirement of the experiment; thus absolute differences can be analyzed. Straightforward, simple comparisons of the systems are presented for TOPEX/Poseidon cycles 2 through 30. The systems are shown to agree well both in the mean and in frequency content. Nontidal sea level residuals are shown to be highly correlated to atmospheric pressure.

Keywords:

• TOPEX
• altimeter
• calibration/validation
• sea level
• tide gauge