Abstract
Through a validation exercise in the Kerguelen Island over 13 global, regional, and local tidal atlases, we have demonstrated the superiority of finite element high resolution model at the coast. The evaluation of different tidal geophysical corrections on the de-aliasing performance of the Jason-2 mission exhibited strong differences in the coastal domain (<10–20 km from the coast) with SLA variance reduction that can reach up to 30% from one model to another. The lack of resolution is pointed out as a possible responsible of these difference.
Acknowledgements
Altimetry data used in this study were developed, validated, and distributed by the CTOH/ LEGOS, France (http://www.legos.obs-mip.fr/en/observations/ ctoh/). Support from this research center is gratefully acknowledged. This research was also supported by the French National Space Agency (CNES) in the frame of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and CNES joint Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OST-ST) Project. The French mean sea level service SONEL and SHOM through the REFMAR project are acknowledged for providing time series and tidal constituents as well as the Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic ROSAME tide gauge network.