Definition for : Altimetry
A technique for the measurement of the elevation of the sea, land or ice surface. For example, the height of the sea surface (with respect to the centre of the Earth or, more conventionally, with respect to a standard “ellipsoid of revolution”) can be measured from space by current state-of-the-art radar altimetry with centrimetric precision. Altimetry has the advantage of being a measurement relative to a geocentric reference frame, rather than relative to land level as for a tide gauge, and of affording quasi-global coverage.
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