The new data presented at the symposium "20 years of progress in radar altimetry", held these days in Venice (Italy) confirm an average rise in sea level of 3 millimeters per year . Scientists attribute this rise to rising temperatures and melting glaciers in the mountains and ice at the poles.
The theme of the congress is radar altimetry, a technique that makes it possible to measure from space the height of the surface of the oceans and the masses of fresh water, ice or land in practically any point of the planet. To do this, these altimeters record the surface topography along the satellite's ground path by timing the interval between the transmission and reception of radar pulses. This makes it possible to measure the height of the satellite above water, land or ice.
The symposium was held in Venice, a city for which the rise in water levels is especially important. "Applications for observing the Earth are fundamental tools for Venice", highlighted Giorgio Orsoni, mayor of that city. Monitoring the rise in sea level, as well as the evolution of the coastline, currents and subsidence are essential to understand the future of the 'floating city'.
