HR: 14:10h
AN: G43D-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Repeat Observations of Sea Surface Topography and Ocean Waves in the Southern California Bight From Scanning Airborne Laser Altimetry
AU: * Gutierrez, R
EM: oskar@mail.utexas.edu
AF: Center for Space Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 3925 West Braker, Lane, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78759, United States
AU: Urban, T J
EM: urban@csr.utexas.edu
AF: Center for Space Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 3925 West Braker, Lane, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78759, United States
AB: Since 2002, the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been surveying the southern California shoreline from San Diego to Long Beach using a small-footprint, airborne lidar mapping system. In all, twelve lidar shoreline surveys have been flown to measure the topography of the nearshore waves, beaches and adjoining cliffs. In addition, we have conducted four offshore surveys: flights along the 20m isobath to map the ocean surface from Point La Jolla to Dana Point, a distance of over 60 km. These offshore surveys occurred in May 2002, September 2002, May 2003, and December 2003 and thus represent different tide and sea states. Repeat lidar offshore surveys provide high resolution ocean surface transects that can be compared with gravimetric models of the geoid and satellite altimetry: radar and laser. UT is a participant in the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission. The UT Center for Space Research conducts experiments designed to validate the timing, geolocation, and geometric characteristics of the lidar footprints generated by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), the principal instrument on ICESat. A comparison of ICESat and TOPEX derived sea surface elevations indicates that ICESat observations of the oceans are influenced by a sea state bias. We discuss the characteristics of airborne and space laser measurements of the ocean surface and the use of small-footprint lidar to estimate an ICESat bias related to wave height.
DE: 1209 Tectonic deformation (6924)
DE: 1294 Instruments and techniques
DE: 1295 Integrations of techniques
DE: 1625 Geomorphology and weathering (0790, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1886)
DE: 4560 Surface waves and tides (1222)
SC: Geodesy [G]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting