Correction of the SWOT roll error

based on adjacent measurements

-
Application:
1-day vs 3-day orbit subsampling
Truth
Observations with
roll error only
Observations with
roll error + white
noise (NPP)
S
l
o
p
e

(
a
r
c
s
e
c
)

Along-track direction (km)
True slope (averaged across-track)
Slope with roll error
Slope with roll error + white noise contribution
True slope 1 day later
True slope 3 days later
True slope 10 days later





No hope to have a good roll correction with cross-over based
techniques because cross-over time difference is generally longer than
3 days (and up to 10 days) except in some precise locations.

Solution: use the adjacent tracks for which time difference is 3 days
or preferably 1 day (according to the orbit chosen) everywhere.
A
r
c
s
e
c
^
2
/
k
m
/
c
y
c
l
e

White noise contribution Total slope noise
1-day slope difference
3-day slope difference
10-day slope difference
True slope
Same conclusions confirmed !
Adjacent zone to
the next track
Higher than 30N/S, the adjacent zone is large !
No adjacent zone below 20N/S (unless we exploit
SWOT signal farther than 60km away)
Adjacent tracks
L
a
t
i
t
u
d
e
e

Distance to nadir (km)
True ocean
Swath n+3 Swath n+2 Swath n Swath n+1
SWOT with roll error
True ocean
Corrected SWOT signal
Swath n+3 Swath n+2 Swath n Swath n+1
SWOT with roll error
True ocean
Method
We minimize the coast function with respect to the slope of
each across-track measurement. Resolved iteratively
for the n swath all together.

J = AH ( )
2
adj.

cJ
cs
= 2 AH dist ( )
adj.

0-day
(unrealistic)
1-day
3-day
Noisy signal: Roll
error + white noise
(NPP)
2D pre-smooting
before roll
correction
After roll
correction
Note: We do first a 2D pre-smooting because at small scales, the slope contribution from the
white noise is bigger than the slope error resulting from the roll (see spectra previous slides)
Slope
correction from
a roll error only
signal (no pre-
smoothing step
necessary)
Slope
correction from
a roll error +
white noise
signal (with the
pre-smoothing
step)
1-day orbit
S
l
o
p
e

(
a
r
c
s
e
c
)

S
l
o
p
e

(
a
r
c
s
e
c
)

True slope
Corrected slope
Observed slope
3-day orbit
Slope
correction from
a roll error only
signal (no pre-
smoothing step
necessary)
Slope
correction from
a roll error +
white noise
signal (with the
pre-smoothing
step)
S
l
o
p
e

(
a
r
c
s
e
c
)

S
l
o
p
e

(
a
r
c
s
e
c
)

Slope
correction from
a roll error only
signal (no pre-
smoothing step
necessary)
Slope
correction from
a roll error +
white noise
signal (with the
pre-smoothing
step)
1-day slope difference
3-day slope difference
Residual slope error with 3-day orbit
Residual slope error with
1-day orbit
Considered slope noise (roll
+ white noise contribution)
A
r
c
s
e
c
^
2
/
k
m
/
c
y
c
l
e

A
r
c
s
e
c
^
2
/
k
m
/
c
y
c
l
e

Residual slope error with 3-day orbit
Residual slope error with
1-day orbit
1-day slope difference
3-day slope difference
True slope
True slope