Sea Surface Height

The ADT data served here is E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information; https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00148 and https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00149.

The Sea Surface Height (SSH) or height of the ocean surface is affected by tidal forces, ocean circulation and variations in the gravitational field. The sea surface height above the Geoid is the Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT), which is observed by satellite altimeters. For convenience purposes, this site redistributes the Copernicus ADT data as yearly data files, along with ADT contour animations generated by GCOOS.

The description of the original Copernicus data product:

Altimeter satellite gridded Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) computed with respect to a twenty-year [1993, 2012] mean. The SLA is estimated by Optimal Interpolation, merging the L3 along-track measurement from the different altimeter missions available. Part of the processing is fitted to the Global ocean. (see QUID document or http://duacs.cls.fr pages for processing details). The product gives additional variables (i.e. Absolute Dynamic Topography and geostrophic currents (absolute and anomalies)). It serves in delayed-time applications. This product is processed by the DUACS multimission altimeter data processing system.

For more information about the Gulf of America Sea Surface Height, contact Robert Leben ( leben@colorado.edu). For more information about the Copernicus data, visit http://marine.copernicus.eu.