The Challenge of Using Future SWOT Data for Oceanic Field Reconstruction

Conventional altimetry measures a one-dimensional profile of sea surface height (SSH) along the satellite track. Two-dimensional SSH can be reconstructed using mapping techniques; however, the spatial resolution is quite coarse even when data from several altimeters are analyzed. A new satellite mission based on radar interferometry is scheduled to be launched in 2020. This mission, called Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), will measure SSH at high resolution along a wide swath, thus providing two-dimensional images of the ocean surface topography. This new capability will provide a large amount of data even though they are contaminated with instrument noise and geophysical errors. This paper presents a tool that simulates synthetic observations of SSH from the future SWOT mission using SSH from any ocean general circulation model (OGCM). SWOT-like data have been generated from a high-resolution model and analyzed to investigate the sampling and accuracy characteristics of the future SWOT data. This tool will help explore new ideas and methods for optimizing the retrieval of information from future SWOT missions.