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2001 Images of the Month

Dec. 2001: Earth's shifting poles: The Doris orbit determination and accurate location system is used in geodesy, the science of measuring Earth's shape and motion.
Nov. 2001: Tides and the climate: Tides appear to have a less well-known impact on the Earth's climate. This discovery is based on almost ten years of highly precise altimetry data.
Oct. 2001: The Amazon under close surveillance: Altimetry satellites are now being used to monitor river water level variations, permanent and temporary flood zones, and various other parameters, for a better water and natural hazard management in the Amazon region.
Sep. 2001: Changing currents: Altimetry enables tide forecasting to within 2 to 3 centimetres in the middle of the ocean. This helps to constrain local tide models, and to forecast tidal currents near the coasts.
Aug. 2001: Currents, buoys and children: Cnes, in partnership with IUFM, French teacher-training institute, initiated the Argonautica project for primary and secondary school children : They are able to compare the buoys' routes against maps of winds, sea level anomalies...
Jul. 2001: Altimetry and lobsters: What kind of influence are ocean currents in the life of a lobster? To find out, scientists are using satellite altimetry data to map ocean circulation and predict the movements of whatever drifts with these currents.
Jun. 2001: An in-depth view: The Greenland sea is a key zone of planetwide ocean circulation, i.e. thermohaline circulation. There, cold and salty Atlantic waters sink to the bottom of the ocean, like a waterfall. Descending, cold water mixes with ambient one, creating subsurface eddies that altimetry data analysis able us to detect.
May 2001: North Atlantic Oscillation makes waves: Wave heights, measured by satellite altimetry, can also serve as an indicator for NAO phases and be used in climate prediction models.
Apr. 2001: Tracking hurricanes: Altimetry contribute to the hurricane forecasting by collecting wave height and wind speed data, but also by the knowledge of ocean circulation it brings.
Mar. 2001: Mean rise in sea level is only part of the story: The global mean sea level conceals many local disparities : example in the Mediterranean Sea.
Feb. 2001: Where does all the waste go?: Satellite altimetry data are a valuable aid to simulate waste drift, providing useful information about ocean circulation.
Jan. 2001: Mercator takes oceanography into the future: Mercator, the French operational oceanography project, is set to issue its first ocean bulletin for the North Atlantic on January 17.