A BISTATIC ALTIMETRY MISSION FOR OCEAN TOPOGRAPHY MAPPING

Through a feasibility study funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the authors analysed the possibility of using the innovative concepts of bistatic altimetry to enhance the spatial sampling of topography measurements over the oceans. Purpose of this paper is thus to review the major results of the mission design, focusing on the spacecraft configuration, mission analysis and the descripition of the mono-bistatic altimeter payload which represents the real innovative feature of the study carried out.