Publication

2003

English

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2003/publication-361.pdf (0.31 Mo)

2003 American Geophysical Union

Legrand P, Schrama Ejo, Tournadre Jean

TU Delft, Dept Geodesy, DEOS FMR, Delft, Netherlands.
IFREMER, Lab Phys Oceans, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
IFREMER, Dept Oceanog Spatiale, F-29280 Plouzane, France.

Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2003 , Vol. 30 , N. 2 , P. -

15

Physical Oceanography

The mean dynamic topography of the surface of the ocean is estimated using a finite difference inverse model of the ocean circulation constrained by a prior TOPEX/Poseidon-EGM96 estimate and an ocean density climatology. The EGM96 geoid uncertainties are represented by their full covariance matrix. The model finds a solution that yields a new 1°-resolution dynamic topography estimate with a 5 cm precision. The existence of this solution suggests that the uncertainties in EGM96, despite being much smaller than in previous geopotential models, are nonetheless realistic. The geodetic information constrains the inverse estimate of the ocean circulation, particularly at high latitudes.