Coastal sea level (COSELE)

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Becker
• Subject Area: Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography
• Term: from 2011 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 190789024

Satellite altimetry in the coastal zone has the potential to yield a large amount of unique information for coastal management and long-term monitoring of coastal dynamics and sea level change. However, coastal areas are one of major challenges for satellite altimetry due to deterioration of altimeter signals. The analysis of altimeter data close to the coastline is a non-standard procedure that requires the use of high rate waveform data and additional information on environmental corrections and coastline bathymetry. Goal of the project COSELE is to provide improved coastal altimeter data for an improved estimation of sea level variability and of the geoid in coastal areas. As a continuation of the predecessor project ReCoSeTo the aim is to generate more and improved data near coast by applying to the raw waveform data both already developed and new re-tracking algorithms. Dedicated re-trackers will be developed depending on the region and on the satellite. Gridded and along track reanalysis will be compared to local observations at tide gauges. The investigations will focus on selected areas with good a priori information from local data in the Mediterranean Sea, in the German part of the North Sea and in the Thailand/Indonesian Sea. The altimeter analysis is combined with a detailed study of sea level variability and geoid in the German Bight.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants