Methodology ยท Radar altimetry
Radar altimetry - sea surface height and inland water levels
Measures sea surface height, significant wave height, and inland water levels from nadir-pointing radar pulse returns; good for sea level rise monitoring, ocean circulation, and river/lake hydrology.
How it works
Nadir pulse-limited or SAR-mode altimeter measures round-trip travel time to the surface. Corrections applied for ionosphere, wet/dry troposphere, and tides. TOPEX/Poseidon -> Jason-1/2/3 -> Sentinel-6 constitutes an unbroken record since 1992. [Wikipedia: Radar altimeter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_altimeter)
Topics this serves
- Inland water well suited
- Sea level and ocean dynamics well suited
- Flooding adequate
Existing implementations
No implementations recorded yet.
Sources
- [wikipedia]Wikipedia: Radar altimetercommunityaccessed 2026-05-22
Methodology
Edited from public sources. Last reviewed date pending by SpectraWorks editorial. See the data dictionary for field definitions.