Impact of the sea state on altimeter measurements in coastal regions

ABSTRACT

In this study, nadir altimeter radar measurements are used to improve wind speed and sea state information in coastal regions, more precisely the north Indian Ocean. A methodology is suggested to combine the Ku- and C-band radar measurements, their difference, the measured significant wave height (H_S) parameter and its along-track gradient. A dimensionless H_S is used to recover empirical dependencies for fetch-limited wind wave development in this coastal region. As obtained, these simultaneous measurements can be efficiently combined to more precisely separate wind-related short-scale wave contributions from large-scale wave components, related to the local sea state degree of development. As demonstrated, this development helps to gain valuable insights concerning the use of altimeter measurements in coastal regions.

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to NOAA for Jason-2 data (http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/) and NASA PODAAC for Jason-1 data (http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia within the framework of the Federal Target Program [project RFMEFI58615X0017].