Articles | Volume 19, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1937-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1937-2025
Research article
 | 
19 May 2025
Research article |  | 19 May 2025

A facet-based numerical model to retrieve ice sheet topography from Sentinel-3 altimetry

Jérémie Aublanc, François Boy, Franck Borde, and Pierre Féménias

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Cited articles

Aublanc, J.: Sentinel-3 AMPLI Ice Sheet Elevation, Version 1, ESA Open Science Catalog [data set], https://doi.org/10.57780/s3d-83ad619, 2025a. 
Aublanc, J.: Sentinel-3 AMPLI User Handbook, Issue 1.0, https://eoresults.esa.int/d/sentinel3-ampli-ice-sheet-elevation/2025/05/07/sentinel-3-ampli-user-handbook/S3_AMPLI_User_Handbook.pdf (last access: 15 May 2025), 2025b. 
Aublanc, J., Moreau, T., Thibaut, P., Boy, F., Rémy, F., and Picot, N.: Evaluation of SAR altimetry over the Antarctic ice sheet from CryoSat-2 acquisitions, Adv. Space Res., 62, 1307–1323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.06.043, 2018. 
Aublanc, J., Thibaut, P., Guillot, A., Boy, F., and Picot, N.: Ice Sheet Topography from a New CryoSat-2 SARIn Processing Chain, and Assessment by Comparison to ICESat-2 over Antarctica, Remote Sens.-Basel, 13, 4508, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13224508, 2021. 
Berthier, E., Vincent, C., Magnússon, E., Gunnlaugsson, Á. Þ., Pitte, P., Le Meur, E., Masiokas, M., Ruiz, L., Pálsson, F., Belart, J. M. C., and Wagnon, P.: Glacier topography and elevation changes derived from Pléiades sub-meter stereo images, The Cryosphere, 8, 2275–2291, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2275-2014, 2014. 
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Short summary
In this study we developed a novel processing chain to derive the ice sheet topography from Sentinel-3 altimetry measurements (named "AMPLI"). The major innovation lies in the use of numerical simulations to geolocate the radar impact point on the ground. The performance improvement is substantial compared to ground segment processing. Furthermore, with AMPLI we show that Sentinel-3 estimates the surface elevation change of the Antarctic ice sheet with a high level of agreement with ICESat-2.
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