CORRECTIONS FOR ALTIMETER LOW-LEVEL PROCESSING AT THE EARTH OBSERVATION DATA CENTER

Many corrections are required to turn the echo time delay measured by a satellite radar altimeter firstly into a range measurement and then into a surface height measurement. This paper describes the instrument al, satellite, atmospheric and surface corrections supplied with the E RS-1 Waveform Product available from the U.K. Earth Observation Data C entre. The mathematical and physical basis for the corrections, and th e algorithms used to drive them, are described, together with an asses sment of the associated errors.