Short arc reduction of radar altimetry computer program

Abstract

The Air Force Geophysics Laboratory computer program SARRA (Short Arc Reduction of Radar Altimetry) has been used for geoid determination with altimetric observations from the GEOS-3 satellite. An important feature of SARRA is the simultaneous recovery of the orbit parameters and the surface coefficients as defined by covariance function weights. Orbits good to approximately 20 meters are adequate for precise geoid determinations by virtue of the orbital adjustment in the reductions. Altimetric data over a portion of the North Atlantic Ocean have been processed to derive the regional geoid and gravity field. Analyses of altimeter residuals resulting from the short arc adjustment show that the residuals can be used to define the neglected higher order geoidal undulations with high fidelity and continuity.