Satellite Altimetry in Geodesy and Oceanography

This volume corresponds to a course of the International Summer School of Theoretical Geodesy, held every 4 years under the sponsorship of the International Association of Geodesy. This particular course, given at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, has been dedicated to the theory of satellite altimetry as a response to the increasing need of scientific work in this field due to important recent and forthcoming space missions. The course was conceived to supply a good theoretical basis in both disciplines, which are deeply involved in the analysis and use of the altimetric signal. The main items of interest are the physical theory of ocean circulation, the theory of tides and the ocean time-variability, from the point of view of oceanography and the orbit theory, with particular regard to the formation of the radial orbital error, the so-called cross-over adjustment, the analysis of geodetic boundary value problems, the integrated determination of the gravity field and the radial orbital error, from the point of view of geodesy.