Estimation of the azimuthal velocity and the elevation of an eddy from simulated altimeter data

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Abstract
Eddies play a promiment role in oceanic and atmospheric processes. Unlike their counterparts in the atmosphere, oceanic eddies are not easily discernible and hence they should be studied by the features associated with them. Besides temperature gradient and rotational velocities, eddies arc associated with elevation or dip at the centre depending on the sense of their rotational movement. Altimeters on board satellites give an opportunity to study the eddies in detail. In this paper a new technique has been presented to estimate the elevation or dip at the centre and thus the rotational velocity of the eddy knowing the distance of the altimeter pass from the centre of the eddy. The centre and the size of the eddy in turn can be located by processing the thermal infra-red (TIR) digital data. Analysis has been carried out to estimate the errors in the computed elevation at the centre and the rotational velocities due to the errors of altimeter measurement and in determining the axis of the eddy by the TIR sensor. The results are presented and discussed in the light of the forthcoming ERS-1 and TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter missions for the case of an Arabian Sea eddy based on in situ data from the literature.

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