Abstract:
Satellite altimeters provide many opportunities for oceanographers to supplement their research with a valuable new data set.
The recent GEOSAT exact repeat mission is the first of several altimeter missions proposed during the next decade. To utilize this
new data, a software package was developed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Hawaii to facilitate
the extraction of useful information from the NODC distributed GEOSAT data tapes. This software package was written with
portability and modularity in mind. It should be possible to use this package with little or no modifications on data from future
altimeters. The code was written in C and tested on Sun workstations and is oriented toward UNIX operating systems. However,
since standard code was used, the programs should port easily to other computer systems. The modularity of the code should enable
users to create additional programs. Additional programs designed to handle collocated water vapor corrections are also included
for comparison.
