Publication

2001-10

English

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/10275/10691.pdf (Publisher's official version, 0.35 Mo)

Chapron Bertrand, Vandemark D, Elfouhaily T, Thompson Dr, Gaspar P, Labroue S

IFREMER, Ctr Brest, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Wallops Isl, VA 23337 USA.
Johns Hopkins Univ, Appl Phys Lab, Laurel, MD USA.
Collecte Localisat Satellites, Ramonville St Agne, France.

Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2001-10 , Vol. 28 , N. 20 , P. 3947-3950

8

Geology, Physical Oceanography

A nonparametric SSB model, derived using the TOPEX altimeter, is analyzed to show a new decomposition of the form SSB = bH(s) + f(sigma (o)), where b is 0.03 and the function of radar cross section (sigma (o)) is an absolute second-order range correction residing outside the conventional nondimensional SSB model. Expected variability in the dominant bH(s) term and its ties to the long wave orbital velocity and shorter-scale slope variances are discussed using a physic ally-motivated restatement of recent EM bias theory. The geometry of steep near-breaking waves, neglected within current theory, is invoked as one plausible explanation for the observed H-s-independent SSB component.