Abstract's details
Mapping SSH with VarDyn: Combining Physics and Variational Techniques for SWOT Data
Event: 2025 SWOT Science Team Meeting
Session: Oceanography: Inversion/Assimilation
Presentation type: Oral
For over three decades, sea surface height (SSH) gridded products derived from altimetry have been indispensable for numerous oceanographic applications. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, with its unprecedented kilometric spatial resolution, offers a transformative capability to observe fine-scale ocean processes. However, its relatively low temporal revisit poses significant challenges for capturing fast-evolving phenomena such as short mesoscale structures and internal tides.
To address these challenges, recent research has focused on developing innovative mapping algorithms that fully exploit SWOT’s potential. In this presentation, we introduce VarDyn, a hybrid variational mapping methodology that seamlessly integrates simple physical principles into advanced variational inversions. VarDyn leverages a Quasi-Geostrophic (QG) model constraint to guide the reconstruction of SSH fields, enabling it to surpass the performance of existing operational products using both conventional altimetry and SWOT data on a global scale.
Moreover, we demonstrate that VarDyn’s design allows the combination of the QG model with a linearized Shallow Water model, enabling the simultaneous mapping and separation of balanced ocean motions from internal tides. This hybrid approach offers a promising avenue for enhancing the resolution and fidelity of SSH products, ultimately advancing our understanding of ocean dynamics at multiple scales.
Back to the list of abstractTo address these challenges, recent research has focused on developing innovative mapping algorithms that fully exploit SWOT’s potential. In this presentation, we introduce VarDyn, a hybrid variational mapping methodology that seamlessly integrates simple physical principles into advanced variational inversions. VarDyn leverages a Quasi-Geostrophic (QG) model constraint to guide the reconstruction of SSH fields, enabling it to surpass the performance of existing operational products using both conventional altimetry and SWOT data on a global scale.
Moreover, we demonstrate that VarDyn’s design allows the combination of the QG model with a linearized Shallow Water model, enabling the simultaneous mapping and separation of balanced ocean motions from internal tides. This hybrid approach offers a promising avenue for enhancing the resolution and fidelity of SSH products, ultimately advancing our understanding of ocean dynamics at multiple scales.