Orbit error is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in studies of ocean dynamics using satellite altimeters. The sensitivity of GEOSAT mesoscale ocean variability estimates to altimeter orbit precision in the SW Atlantic is analyzed using three GEOSAT data sets derived from different orbit estimation methods: (a) the original GDR data set, which has the lowest orbit precision, (b) the GEM-T2 set, constructed from a much more precise orbital model, and (c) the Sirkes-Wunsch data set, derived from additional spectral analysis of the GEM-T2 data set. Differences among the data sets are investigated for two tracks in dynamically dissimilar regimes of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, by comparing: (a) distinctive features of the average power density spectra of the sea height residuals and (b) space-time diagrams of sea height residuals. The variability estimates produced by the three data sets are extremely similar in both regimes after removal of the time-dependent component of the orbit error using a quadratic fit. Our results indicate that altimeter orbit precision with appropriate processing plays only a minor role in studies of mesoscale ocean variability.
Altimetry; GEOSAT data sets; Orbit error; Mesoscale variability