Platform Harvest sea level measurement comparisons

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Abstract
Three in situ water level measurement systems have been installed on Platform Harvest in support of the TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite Verification Experiment. Each of the systems have fundamentally different instrument configurations, which provides a unique simultaneous set of measurements in a deep water‐exposed near‐shore environment. Each of the sensor “zeros”; have also been referenced to the same datum as a requirement of the experiment; thus absolute differences can be analyzed. Straightforward, simple comparisons of the systems are presented for TOPEX/Poseidon cycles 2 through 30. The systems are shown to agree well both in the mean and in frequency content. Nontidal sea level residuals are shown to be highly correlated to atmospheric pressure.