Joint Calibration of Multiplatform Altimeter Measurements of Wind Speed and Wave Height over the Past 20 Years
Top Cited Papers
- 1 December 2009
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
- Vol. 26 (12), 2549-2564
- https://doi.org/10.1175/2009jtecha1303.1
Abstract
Since 1985, for a period of more than 23 yr, seven altimeter missions have provided global coverage of significant wave height and wind speed. This study undertakes a long-term analysis of the accuracy and stability of altimeter-derived values of significant wave height and wind speed from the following satellites: European Remote Sensing-1 (ERS-1), ERS-2, Environmental Satellite (Envisat), Geosat, Geosat Follow-On (GFO), Jason-1, and the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX). This study is a necessary step in developing a quality-controlled and fully calibrated and validated dataset from the combined satellites. Calibration of all altimeters is performed against National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) buoy data over the extended period. These calibrations are validated using intercomparisons between satellite missions at crossover ground points. This analysis shows that, for a number of the satellites, small “step like” changes occur during the missions. These inconsistencies are removed by subdividing these missions and undertaking a partial calibration for each section of the mission. The analysis also highlights that care is necessary when attempting to apply relationships between radar cross section and wind speed derived for one altimeter to other platforms. Before undertaking such steps, it is first necessary to apply a platform-specific radar cross-sectional offset to the data.Keywords
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Intercomparison of Different Wind–Wave ReanalysesJournal of Climate, 2004
- On estimating extreme wave heights using combined Geosat, Topex/Poseidon and ERS-1 altimeter dataApplied Ocean Research, 2003
- A new approach for determining fully empirical altimeter wind speed model functionsPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1994
- Cross calibration of TOPEX, ERS‐I, and Geosat wave heightsPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1994
- Comparison of TOPEX/POSEIDON σ0 and significant wave height distributions to GeosatPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1994
- An Assessment of Geosat Wave Height and Wind Speed MeasurementsJournal of Geophysical Research, 1992
- Validation of Geosat altimeter‐derived wind speeds and significant wave heights using buoy dataPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1987
- Further development of an improved altimeter wind speed algorithmPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1986
- A review of satellite altimeter measurement of sea surface wind speed: With a proposed new algorithmPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1985
- The wind-speed measurement capability of spaceborne radar altimetersIEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 1981