The satellite altimeters aboard the Geosat and ERS-1 spacecraft have mapped the marine gravity field over nearly all of the world's oceans to a high accuracy. The Geosat data south of 30 degrees south has recently been declassified. In the wavelength band 15 to 150 km, variations in gravity anomaly are highly correlated with seafloor topography. Since many southern ocean areas are sparsely surveyed, these new Geosat data reveal many previously unsurveyed features. The objectives of this project are to: (1) merge the Scripps satellite altimeter processing system with the shipboard data processing system so these data sets can be compared and correlated, (2) investigate three methods for constructing inverse transfer functions for mapping dense satellite gravity onto the sparse ship topography profiles, (3) extract regional variations in the topography/gravity transfer function and relate them to tectonic provinces, (4) use topography/transfer functions to interpolate seafloor topography between sparse ship sounding, and (5) examine variations in topography/gravity transfer function at spreading ridges with emphasis on the variation with spreading rate and distance to ridge/transform intersection.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)
Application #
9217164
Program Officer
David E. Epp
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1993-02-15
Budget End
1996-01-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
$130,155
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093