Satellite radar altimetry water elevations performance over a 200 m river: Evaluation over the Garonne River
For at least 20 years, nadir altimetry satellite missions have been successfully used to first monitor the surface elevation of oceans and, shortly after, of large rivers and lakes. For the last 5–10 years, few studies have demonstrated the possibility to also observe smaller water bodies than previously thought feasible (river smaller than 500 m wide and lake below 10 km2). The present study aims at quantifying the nadir altimetry performance over a medium river (200 m or lower wide) with a pluvio-nival regime in a temperate climate (the Garonne River, France). Three altimetry missions have been considered: ENVISAT (from 2002 to 2010), Jason-2 (from 2008 to 2014) and SARAL (from 2013 to 2014).
S. Biancamaria, F. Frappart, A.-S. Leleu, V. Marieu, D. Blumstein, J.-D. Desjonquères, F. Boy, A. Sottolichio, A. Valle-Levinson - Advances in Space Research, volume 59