Products
Mean Sea Surface
Types of dataset: auxiliary product
Contents: mean sea profile above T/P reference ellipsoid. This surface is available on a regular grid (1/30°x1/30°, 2 minutes). Another grid provides the estimation of error fields which represent the MSS accuracy estimated through the inverse technique.
Use: geodesy, geophysics, oceanography (operational oceanography, modeling, ocean variability studies)
Description : product recovering a 15-year period (1993-2009), based on 10 years of Topex/Poseidon data (first orbit), 3 years of Topex/Poseidon tandem, 8 years of ERS-2 data, ERS-1 geodesic data (2 phases at 168-days), 7 years of GFO, 7 years of Envisat and 7 years of Jason-1 . The use of several missions requires to readjust all missions between them. Thus, a reference mission is chosen and other missions are adjusted with this latest. Topex/poseidon is the reference mission for the absolute bias. For geographical bias, Topex/Poseidon is the reference mission until 2001, then Jason-1 takes over.(more information).
Geographic coverage: global (from 80°S and 84°N.)
Format : netCDF format
Distribution media: FTP
Condition of access: All auxiliary product users need an account, see Access to auxiliary products.
To get an acces to the last version of MSS product, please fill in, select the given product (on the second page of the form) and valid the following form:
Releases of MSS
July 2011: New MSS_CNES_CLS2011
This mean sea surface follows on MSS_CNES_CLS_2010. The shorter wavelengths of this new MSS were significantly improved while maintaining the capability of the optimal analysis for removing the residual effect of the ocean variability.
It has been produced in the frame of the SLOOP project, funded by CNES/SALP, aiming at improving the quality of altimetric products in open ocean.
- Mean Sea Surface MSS_CNES_CLS11.
MSS_CNES_CLS10
This model is affected by artifact (that affect the shortest wavelengths lower than 30 km) concerning seamounts that appear too smoothed. This was due to the behavior of the objective analysis, which tended to overestimate the residual ocean variability at the expense of the topography (static geophysical structure).
Further information: Schaeffer P. et al.: The new CNES CLS 2010 Mean Sea Surface, oral presentation at OSTST 2010 meeting (pdf, 10 MB).
- Comparaison of MSS models: DTU10 (right), MSS_CNES_CLS10 (center) where the two circled seamounts are not tall enough and to the left, the next corrected MSS_CNES_CLS11 (upcoming in 2011).
2001: CLS01
This mean sea surface succeed to CLS-SHOM98.2 project.
Concerning CLS01 this is 7 years of Topex/Poseidon data, 5 years of ERS-1/2 data, 2 years of Geosat data added to ERS-1 geodetic data which were processed and homogenized in order to produce a (1/30°x1/30°) gridded map.
- Mean Sea Surface CLS01.
1998: CLS_SHOM98.2
This mean sea surface was based on 3 years of data (Topex/Poseidon, ERS-1 and Geosat) combined on a (1/16°x1/16°) grid.
- Mean Sea Surface CLS_Shom98.2
