An overriding issue facing the altimetry community today is sustaining the present observational capability. In Europe and the United States this involves transitioning altimetry as a research endeavor within the R&D agencies into a sustained capability within their operational counterparts. Additionally, meeting operational and scientific objectives requires multiple missions, namely, a constellation. Requirements for such a constellation in the near-term include maintaining continuity of the low-inclination, Jason-class altimeter series to ...
This paper discussed aspects of the development of operational satellite programmes for oceanography. In particular, it explains transitioning of key ocean missions from research to a sustained operational context. Successes over the last decade are highlighted as well as challenges for the decades to come.
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