Exploring ocean surface currents and waves, from the ESA EE9 Sea surface KInematics Multiscale monitoring (SKIM) Mission

• Main Authors: Ardhuin, Fabrice, Donlon, C., de Witte, E., Battaglia, A., Brandt, P., Collard, F., Engen, G., Hauser, Danièle, Lopez-Dekker, P., Marié, L., Martin, A., Shutler, J., Stammer, D., Tsamados, M., van Sebille, E., Chapron, Bertrand, Delouis, J.-M., Frommknecht, B., Nouguier, F., Gaultier, L., Suess, M., Casal, T., Rio, M. H., Rommen, B., Ressler, G., Ubelmann, C.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), University of Leicester, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), OceanDataLab, Norut IT, University of Tromsø (UiT)-Norut Gruppen AS, SPACE - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOC), University of Southampton, University of Exeter, Institut für Meereskunde Hamburg, Universität Hamburg (UHH), University College of London London (UCL), Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University Utrecht, Collecte Localisation Satellites Brest (CLS), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES), ESA
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-02331047

International audience SKIM is an ESA Earth Explorer-9 candidate mission designed to measure directly and simultaneously, for the first time, directional ocean surface current vector (OSCV) and ocean wave spectra. SKIM builds on satellite altimetry, including a nadir altimeter beam, and the first ocean wave spectrometer SWIM on CFOSAT. Using rotating beams across a 330 km swath, SKIM will explore beyond the 200 km - 15 days resolution of ocean currents that can be diagnosed today from sea level at mid latitudes. In particular SKIM will fill two important blind spots: in the tropics and in the marginal ice zone, and expand the effective space and time resolution of the altimeter constellation by a factor 2 or more. The novel direct measurement of surface currents in the top two meters will produce the first maps of the equatorial upwellings that are critical for understanding and forecasting the heat budget at the equator with far-reaching weather and climate consequences, for example on the African monsoon. OSCV maps will also allow the first monitoring of the highly dynamic currents at the ice edge. Adding this new and fundamental variable to Earth Observation capability together with high fidelity measurements of wave spectra will allow scientists to address a wide range of questions, including: How OSCV and waves influence upper ocean mixing and large scale circulation? How do OSCV and waves influence the dynamics of the ice edge in the Arctic and Antarctic?What are the roles of eddies, wind-driven flows and waves in setting the surface concentration of marine litter and shaping marine ecosystems?This presentation will explain how SKIM measurements will be used to address these scientific challenges using examples from mission and instrument simulator outputs.