Satellite Altimetry for Coastal Sea Level Monitoring
Summary
Satellite altimetry has revolutionised the measurement of sea surface height by using radar pulses to determine the distance between a satellite and the ocean surface with centimetric precision. While open-ocean altimetry has been routine since the early 1990s, extending reliable measurements into the coastal zone poses challenges of land contamination, complex tides, and rapidly varying atmospheric conditions. Advances in instrument modes, notably Ka-band altimetry and synthetic aperture radar processing, together with refined waveform retracking algorithms and enhanced geophysical corrections, have progressively mitigated these issues. Today, specialised reprocessing chains allow sea level observations within a few kilometres of the shoreline, offering continuous records of coastal trends, seasonal cycles and extreme events. Such data are critical for understanding regional differences in sea level rise, validating coastal models, calibrating tide gauge networks and informing coastal management and adaptation strategies worldwide.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Satellite Altimetry for Coastal Sea Level Monitoring publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in satellite altimetry for coastal sea level monitoring across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Satellite altimetry: A remote-sensing method that measures the distance between a satellite and the sea surface by timing radar pulses.
Sea level anomaly (SLA): The deviation of instantaneous sea surface height from a long-term mean reference surface.
Retracker: An algorithm that fits the returned radar waveform to a theoretical model to determine the precise range to the sea surface.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) altimetry: An altimeter mode that uses Doppler processing to narrow the radar footprint and improve spatial resolution.
Geophysical corrections: Adjustments applied to raw altimetry data to account for atmospheric delays, ocean tides, sea state bias and other environmental effects.
References
- Monitoring Sea Level in the Coastal Zone with Satellite Altimetry and Tide Gauges. Surveys in Geophysics (2016).
- ALES: A multi-mission adaptive subwaveform retracker for coastal and open ocean altimetry. Remote Sensing of Environment (2014).
- Coastal sea level anomalies and associated trends from Jason satellite altimetry over 2002–2018. Scientific Data (2020).
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.