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- The Poseidon-3 radar altimeter is the main instrument on the Jason-2 mission. Derived from the Poseidon-1 altimeter on Topex/Poseidon and the Poseidon-2 on Jason-1, it measures sea level, wave heights and wind speed.
The Poseidon-3 altimeter emits pulses at two frequencies 13.6 and 5.3 GHz to measure the distance from the satellite to the surface (range). Free electrons in the atmosphere can delay the signal's return, affecting the measurement accuracy. The delay is directly related to the radar frequency, so the difference between the two measurements can be used to determine atmospheric electron content. Poseidon-3 is coupled with Doris/Diode, to improve measurements over coastal areas, inland waters and ice.
Additional information on the Poseidon-3 instrument is available on the AVISO site.
http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/missions/current-missions/jason-2/instruments/poseidon-3/index.html
[Description Source: NASA JPL Ocean Surface Topography from Space Home Page]
Group: Instrument_Details
Entry_ID: POSEIDON-3
Group: Instrument_Identification
Instrument_Category: Earth Remote Sensing Instruments
Instrument_Class: Active Remote Sensing
Instrument_Type: Altimeters
Instrument_Subtype: Radar Altimeters
Short_Name: POSEIDON-3
Long_Name: JASON-2 RADAR ALTIMETER
End_Group
Group: Associated_Platforms
Short_Name: OSTM/JASON-2
End_Group
Group: Spectral_Frequency_Information
Spectral_Frequency_Resolution: 13.6 GHz in the Ku-band, 5.3 GHz in the C-band
End_Group
Online_Resource: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ostm-sc-inst.html
Online_Resource: http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/missions/current-missions/jason-2/instruments/poseidon-3/index.html
Sample_Image: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/spacecraft/images/ostm-altimeter-br.jpg
Creation_Date: 2008-07-10
Group: Instrument_Logistics
Instrument_Owner: France/CNES
Instrument_Owner: USA/NASA
End_Group
End_Group
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