Introduction and Assessment of Improved Coastal Altimetry Strategies: Case Study over the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Jérôme Bouffard (1, 2) , Laurent Roblou (1) , Florence Birol (1) , Ananda Pascual (2) , Luciana Fenoglio-Marc (3) , M. Cancet (1) , Rosemary Morrow (4) , Yves Menard (4, 5)

1 ECOLA - Echanges Côte-Large
2 IMEDA - Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats
3 Institute of Physical Geodesy [Darmstadt]
4 OLVAC - Océan du Large et Variabilité Climatique
5 CNES - Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse]

Improved coastal altimetry strategies are validated over the northwestern Mediterranean Sea with tide gauge (TG) records. Cross-comparisons made with a standard altimetric product highlight significant qualitative and quantitative improvements. The data processed by improved methods are able to detect smaller dynamical processes compared to the standard altimetric products. Lastly, the improved datasets allow us to recover additional coastal data, principally closer to the coast. The improved altimetric data have been used to monitor the Liguro-Provençal-Catalan current coastal dynamics in the Gulf of Lion. For the first time, we have both altimetric and sea surface temperature (SST) observations of intrusions impinging on the continental shelf following a strong southeasterly wind event, which are consistent with past studies based on numerical simulations.

Mots clés: Coastal altimetry; Coastal current; Mediterranean Sea; Tide gauge; Validation

Domaines: Océanographie

Jérôme Bouffard, Laurent Roblou, Florence Birol, Ananda Pascual, Luciana Fenoglio-Marc, et al.. Introduction and Assessment of Improved Coastal Altimetry Strategies: Case Study over the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Coastal Altimetry, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp.297-330, 2011, ⟨10.1007/978-3-642-12796-0_12⟩. ⟨hal-00961076⟩