Brief communication: Ice sheet elevation measurements from the Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B tandem phase

Abstract

Over the coming decade, the quartet of Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite altimeters will provide a continuous record of ice sheet elevation change. Ensuring consistency of measurement between the four satellites requires rigorous in-flight inter-comparison. To facilitate this, Sentinel-3B was initially flown in a unique tandem formation with Sentinel-3A, enabling near-instantaneous, co-located measurements of surface elevation to be acquired. Here, we analyse tandem measurements of ice sheet elevation, to show that both instruments operate with statistically equivalent accuracy and precision, even over complex ice margin terrain. This analysis demonstrates that both satellites can be used interchangeably to study ice sheet evolution.