Summary

In the spring of 1995 an extensive global positioning system (GPS) survey was carried out on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, providing ground-truth ellipsoidal height measurements for the European remote-sensing satellite (ERS) radar altimeters. GPS- and altimeter-derived surface heights have been compared at the intersecting points of the ERS ground tracks and the GPS survey. The mean and rms height difference for all the ERS-1 geodetic phase tracks across the survey region is 0.0 ± 0.1 m and 1.7 m, respectively. The spatial distribution of the height differences is highly correlated with surface topographic variations. Comparisons of GPS-derived surface-elevation profiles along ERS ground tracks show that the ERS altimeters can closely follow the GPS representation of the actual surface.

Authors:Phillips H.A. Allison I. Coleman R. Hyland G. Morgan P.J. Young N.W. Publisher: International Glaciological Society Published in: 1998 Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature Program area: Glaciology
Phillips H.A., Allison I., Coleman R., Hyland G., Morgan P.J., Young N.W. (1998) Comparison of ERS satellite radar altimeter heights with GPS-derived heights on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, Annals of Glaciology 27. 19-24;

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