International audienceThe Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 (OSTM/Jason-2) satellite altimetry mission was successfully launched on June 20, 2008, as a cooperative mission between CNES, EUMETSAT, NASA, and NOAA. OSTM/Jason-2 will continue to precisely measure the surface topography of the oceans and continental surface waters, following on the same orbit as its predecessors, TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1. To maintain the high-accuracy measurements, the mission carries a dual-frequency altimeter, a three-frequency microwave radiometer, and three precise positioning systems. The objectives of the mission are both operational and scientific. The mission will provide near-real time high-precision altimetric measurements for integration into ocean forecasting models and other products. The mission will also extend the precise surface topography time series started by TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992 over two decades in order to study long-term ocean variations such as mean sea level variations and interannual and decadal oscillations. The measurement system has been adapted to provide quality data nearer to the coasts, and over lakes and rivers. This paper provides an overview of the OSTM/Jason-2 mission in terms of the system design and a brief introduction to the science objectives
Jason-2 was successfully launched by a Boeing Delta II rocket from the Vandenberg site, California. The OSTM/Jason-2 project is a cooperation among NASA, NOAA, EUMETSAT, and CNES. The first two months of the OSTM/Jason-2 mission have been dedicated to the assessment of the overall system. The goal of this assessment phase was:(i) to assess the behavior of the spacecraft, at the platform and payload levels; (ii) to verify that platform performance requirements are met with respect to Jason-2 requirements; (iii) to verify that payload instruments performance requirements evaluated at instrument level are met; and (iv) to assess the performance of the Jason-2 Ground System. The paper will display the main outputs of the assessment of the system. It will demonstrate that all the elements of the onboard and ground systems are within the specifications.
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