Regional mean sea surfaces based on GEOS‐3 and SEASAT altimeter data

Abstract Altimetric sea surfaces provide a basis for detailed analyses of the earth's gravity, crustal structure, and the oceanic surface circulation. We have computed long‐term mean surfaces for the Bering Sea, Northwest Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico based on a combination of the entire SEASAT (three‐month) and GEOS‐3 (3.5‐year) altimeter data sets. The number of available passes ranged from 558 in the gulf to 1396 in the Atlantic. The large amount of data in these areas, coupled with the increased constraint provided by the combination of data from two orbital inclinations, has permitted the accurate removal of the effects of radial ephemeris error through crossing arc adjustments. The precision of these regional mean sea surfaces is approximately 15 cm, with horizontal resolutions approaching 25 km.

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