The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
Publications Copernicus
Download
Citation
Articles | Volume XL-8
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-1365-2014
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-1365-2014
23 Dec 2014
 | 23 Dec 2014

Estimation of currents using SARAL/AltiKa in the coastal regions of India

A. Chaudhary, N. Agarwal, and R. Sharma

Keywords: Coastal current, Altimeter, Indian coast

Abstract. The present study explores the possibility of deriving the across track currents along the Indian coastal region from SARAL/AltiKa mission. The across track surface geostrophic currents obtained from along track SARAL altimeter data are directly compared (qualitatively) with high frequency (HF) radar observations of surface currents in the Bay of Bengal. The velocity component from HF radar which is perpendicular to the altimeter tracks is considered. Since the ageostrophic velocity contribution is ignored for the moment, the surface geostrophic currents SARAL compare well only under low wind conditions. Due to high along track resolution of SARAL there are large variations in velocity which are not captured by the HF radar observations. In general, the magnitude and variations in surface currents derived from SARAL altimeter are comparable with HF radar observations.