Southern ocean sea level anomaly in the sea ice-covered sector from multimission satellite observations

Despite its central role in the global climate, the Southern Ocean circulation is still one of the least understood ocean circulation systems of the planet. One major constraint to our understanding of this region is the challenge of observing ocean circulation in the seasonally sea ice sector of the Southern Ocean. Here, we present a new Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) product, focusing on the subpolar Southern Ocean and including its sea ice covered parts from 2013 to 2019. Combining observations from multiple satellites, including Cryosat-2, Sentinel-3A, and SARAL/AltiKa, processed with state-of-the-art algorithms, allows an improvement in spatial and temporal resolution compared with previous products. Validation is made by comparing our estimate with existing SLA products, cross-comparing estimates from individual satellites in the sea ice zones, and comparing the time series of the product with a Bottom Pressure Recorder in the Drake Passage.