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SARAL/AltiKa–An Unprecedented Journey for Monitoring Global Sea Levels and Serving Ocean Applications

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Abstract

SARAL/AltiKa, the world’s first Ka-band altimeter, marks a significant technological advancement through the collaboration of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Launched on February 25, 2013, SARAL/AltiKa has made pivotal contributions to climate research and ocean monitoring, despite facing operational challenges such as orbit shifts in 2016 and the onset of the mispointing phase (MP) in 2019. This review highlights the broad spectrum of applications enabled by SARAL/AltiKa, particularly in India, from geodetic studies and coastal current analysis to oil spill tracking and wave model assimilation. An analysis of data from the MP phase (cycles 160–180) confirms the satellite’s continued ability to provide reliable geophysical measurements, further validated against merged altimeter products. SARAL/AltiKa’s significant contributions to operational oceanography and weather forecasting in India underscore its enduring scientific and practical impact.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are extremely thankful towards Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) for their continued supports and encouragements for the SARAL mission. We express our hearty appreciations for National Agencies like Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (NCMRWF) for promoting the advanced research and utilization of SARAL/AltiKa data.

Funding

The work is not part of any funded project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, India

    Suchandra A. Bhowmick, Aditya Chaudhary, M. Seemanth, Smitha Ratheesh, K. M. Sreejith, V. P. Krishna, Neeraj Agarwal, Rashmi Sharma & Raj Kumar

  2. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad, India

    P. G. Remya

  3. National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Noida, UP, India

    Imranali M. Momin

  4. ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network, ISRO, India

    Honey Gupta

  5. Indian Space Research Organization, Bengaluru, India

    J. V. Thomas

Authors
  1. Suchandra A. Bhowmick
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  2. Aditya Chaudhary
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  3. M. Seemanth
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  7. P. G. Remya
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  13. Raj Kumar
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Contributions

Suchandra A Bhowmick is involved in application research, writing and overall compilation, Aditya Chaudhary, Seemanth M, Smitha Ratheesh, Sreejith KM and V P Krishna contributed in individual research activities and respective writing. Remya P.G contributed for insitu data handling and Imranali M. Momin is involved in application research and writing. Honey Gupta contributed in satellite hardware maintenance and orbit keeping. J.V Thomas and Neeraj Agarwal is responsible for guidance. Overall idea and guidance is provided by Rashmi Sharma and Raj Kumar.

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Correspondence to Suchandra A. Bhowmick.

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Bhowmick, S.A., Chaudhary, A., Seemanth, M. et al. SARAL/AltiKa–An Unprecedented Journey for Monitoring Global Sea Levels and Serving Ocean Applications. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 53, 3089–3103 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-025-02242-8

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