BackForwardInstrument:  Poseidon-3B 

Instrument details
Acronym Poseidon-3B
Full name Poseidon 3B
Purpose Ocean topography, significant wave height, wind speed
Short description
  • Two frequencies (5.3 and 13.58 GHz)
  • Monitoring and calibration information here
Background

Similar to Poseidon-3 on JASON-2
Scanning Technique

Nadir-only viewing, sampling at 30 km intervals along track
Resolution 30 km IFOV
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 1 month for 30 km average spacing, or in 10 days for 100 km average spacing
Mass 70 kg Power 78 W Data Rate 22.5 kbps

 

Providing Agency CNES
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2016 to 2027
Last update: 2024-09-23
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Active and radio-occultation sensor
  • Radar altimeter
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Wide-swath radar altimeters, and high altitude, inclined, high-precision orbit altimeters
  • High-altitude, inclined, high-precision orbit altimeters
  • Conventional radar altimeter
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Magnetospheric energetic particles and magnetometers
  • Ionospheric total electron content sensor [at LEO and cross magnetosphere]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Geoid
  • Ocean dynamic topography
  • Significant wave height
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Coastal sea level (tide)2 - very highAlong-track only.Dual-frequency radar altimeter: Ku-band and supporting S-band or C-band to correct for ionospheric rotation
Geoid*1 - primaryLong time series needed.. Along-track only.Geoid derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data. Typical orbit for geodetic use: 1336 km height, 66° inclination
Gravity field4 - fairPartial information (geoid).. Along-track only.Gravity field derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data. Typical orbit for geodetic use: 1336 km height, 66° inclination
Ocean dynamic topography*2 - very highLong time for mapping.. Along-track only.Dual-freqency altimeter: Ku-band and supporting S-band or C-band to correct for ionospheric rotation
Significant wave height*2 - very highAlong-track only.Ku-band radar altimeter
Wind speed (near surface)5 - marginalOver sea only.. Along-track only.Radar altimeter. Wind speed estimated from the intensity of the backscattered signals
Ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC)4 - fairAlong-track only.Dual-frequency altimeter: Ku-band and supporting S-band or C-band to correct for ionospheric rotation