Combinations of satellite crossovers to study orbit and residual errors in altimetry (Q1976124)

The authors search for combinations of dual- and single-satellite crossover differences wich lead to the isolation of both stationary orbit-geopotential and non-geopotential errors in altimetry data. Specifically, two types of combinations are found to be useful. When no combination of differences can exactly resolve the full radial error of single or paired satellites, an approximation of mean or geographically correlated error of the generally dominant lower orbit of a pair can be obtained from the first kind of combinations. The second type of combinations yields no geopotential orbit error, this can reveal errors in altimetry from imperfect media corrections as well as from oceanographic changes at the sealevel. The later fact is especially important when the missions for a pair of satellites are disparate in time.