Towards Operational Fiducial Reference Measurement (FRM) Data for the Calibration and Validation of the Sentinel-3 Surface Topography Mission over Inland Waters, Sea Ice, and Land Ice

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 15; no. 19; p. 4826
• Main Authors: Da Silva, Elodie, Woolliams, Emma R., Picot, Nicolas, Poisson, Jean-Christophe, Skourup, Henriette, Moholdt, Geir, Fleury, Sara, Behnia, Sajedeh, Favier, Vincent, Arnaud, Laurent, Aublanc, Jérémie, Fouqueau, Valentin, Taburet, Nicolas, Renou, Julien, Yesou, Hervé, Tarpanelli, Angelica, Camici, Stefania, Fredensborg Hansen, Renée Mie, Nielsen, Karina, Vivier, Frédéric, Boy, François, Fjørtoft, Roger, Cancet, Mathilde, Ferrari, Ramiro, Picard, Ghislain, Tourian, Mohammad J., Sneeuw, Nicolaas, Munesa, Eric, Calzas, Michel, Paris, Adrien, Le Meur, Emmanuel, Rabatel, Antoine, Valladeau, Guillaume, Bonnefond, Pascal, Labroue, Sylvie, Andersen, Ole, El Hajj, Mahmoud, Catapano, Filomena, Féménias, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Aircraft; Algorithms; Altimeters; Altimetry; Artificial satellites in remote sensing; Calibration; Comparative analysis; cost effectiveness; Datasets; FRM; Geophysical methods; geophysics; inland water surface height; Inland waters; Land ice; land ice height; latitude; Ocean, Atmosphere; Polar environments; Propagation; Return on investment; S3 land STM; Satellites; Sciences of the Universe; Sea ice; sea ice thickness; Synthetic aperture radar; Technology application; Topography; traceability; uncertainties; uncertainty; Unmanned aerial vehicles; France
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs15194826

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 Surface Topography Mission (STM) Land Altimetry provides valuable surface elevation information over inland waters, sea ice, and land ice, thanks to its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter and its orbit that covers high-latitude polar regions. To ensure that these measurements are reliable and to maximise the return on investment, adequate validation of the geophysical retrieval methods, processing algorithms, and corrections must be performed using independent observations. The EU-ESA project St3TART (started July 2021) aims to generalise the concept of Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRMs) for the Copernicus Sentinel-3 STM. This work has gathered existing data, made new observations during field campaigns, and ensured that these observations meet the criteria of FRM standards so that they can be used to validate Sentinel-3 STM Land Altimetry products operationally. A roadmap for the operational provision of the FRM, including the definition, consolidation, and identification of the most relevant and cost-effective methods and protocols to be maintained, supported, or implemented, has been developed. The roadmap includes guidelines for SI traceability, definitions of FRM measurement procedures, processing methods, and uncertainty budget estimations.