Envisat Ocean Altimetry Performance Assessment and Cross-calibration

Nearly three years of Envisat altimetric observations over ocean are available in Geophysical Data Record (GDR) products. The quality assessment of these data is routinely performed at the CLS Space Oceanography Division in the frame of the CNES Segment Sol Altimétrie et Orbitographie (SSALTO) and ESA French Processing and Archiving Center (F-PAC) activities. This paper presents the main results in terms of Envisat data quality: verification of data availability and validity, monitoring of the most relevant altimeter (ocean1 retracking) and radiometer parameters, assessment of the Envisat altimeter system performances. This includes a cross-calibration analysis of Envisat data with Jason-1, ERS-2 and T/P. Envisat data show good general quality. A good orbit quality and a low level of noise allow Envisat to reach the high level of accuracy of other precise missions such as T/P and Jason-1. Some issues raised in this paper, as the gravity induced orbit errors, will be solved in the next version of GDR products. Some others, as the Envisat Mean Sea Level in the first year, still need further investigation.