FFSAR – Coastal Fully Focused SAR Altimetry and Innovative River Level Gauges for Coastal Monitoring

Fully Focused (FF) SAR Coastal [FFSAR-Coastal] is a project funded by ESA to apply the Fully Focused SAR altimetry processor on Sentinel-3 data and evaluate its potential to make a significant new contribution to coastal and estuarine monitoring systems, when coupled with innovative water level gauges for validation.

Two different environments have been considered:

• The Severn Estuary and river: A highly dynamic mixed tidal estuary environment, the confluence between a river and its estuary experiencing large tidal range and strong tidal currents
• The lower Rhône Delta and Camargue:  A low lying, flat river delta and wetland environment, susceptible to inundation and water level rise. 

Innovative in-situ water level gauges were used to validate the satellite data. Time series were provided by autonomous Vortex.io gauges (“microstations”) placed at fixed locations, gauges mounted on drones were used to provide water level profiles between the fixed locations and satellite tracks.

FFSAR-Coastal investigated the potential applicability and benefits offered by FF SAR altimeter data in these two different environments. Analysis focused on the benefits offered by the very high along-track resolution in water level and backscatter that can be provided through Fully Focused SAR processing. User agencies and groups from the two regions were consulted to identify gaps and priorities for monitoring requirements. 

The Fully Focused SAR altimeter data, Vortex.io microstation data, and drone campaign data, are all available through a special page on the UK Coastal Monitoring Website.

Further information and all project reports are available through the project website.