![AVISO: Sea surface height above Geoid (November, 1996). [Climate Data guide; D. Shea] Climate Data Guide Image](https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/sites/default/files/styles/node_teaser_image/public/teaser_images/key_figures_117.png?itok=XiV18lEO)
The sea surface height relative to the geoid (the mean ocean surface of the Earth if the ocean is at rest) is derived from TOPEX/Poseidon, Envisat, Jason-1, and OSTM/Jason-2 altimetry measurements. Altimetry is a technique for measuring height. Satellite altimetry measures the time taken by a radar pulse to travel from the satellite antenna to the surface and back to the satellite receiver. Combined with precise satellite location data, altimetry measurements yield sea-surface heights. This AVISO dataset was created by binning and averaging monthly values on 1 degree grids.
AVISO stands for "Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data".