On the possibility of ocean bathymetry by using satellite remote sensing with altimeter.

Abstract

Recently great improvements have been made in satellite altimetric techniques, especially with the altimeter on board the ocean observation satellite "Seasat". An altimeter can measure undulations on the sea surface with a resolution of 10 cm, and improved accuracy is expected with the forthcoming altimeter satellite "Topex”， which is scheduled to be launched in 1990. Undulations of the sea surface are caused by the anomalous potential based on non-uniformly distributed mass inside the earth or in the sea bottom features. A small part of sea surface undulations is caused by oceanographic phenomena. The relation between altimetric sea surface undulations obtained by the use of Seasat and sea bottom features is investigated along some Seasat passes in the western Pacific off the coast of Japan. The area is well surveyed, and a bathymetric data file has prepared for various applications by the Japan Oceanographic Data Center. The correlation between the short-wavelength component of the sea surface profile and that of the sea bottom profile is very good. Consequently, it may be concluded that the bathymetric data file used is well compiled, and that altimetric sea surface profiles can be applied in the detection of seamounts in poorly surveyed or unsurveyed areas.