Calibration of HY-2A satellite significant wave heights with in situ observation

Significant wave height (SWH) can be computed from the returning waveform of radar altimeter, this parameter is only raw estimates if it does not calibrate. But accurate calibration is important for all applications, especially for climate studies. HY-2a altimeter has been operational since April 2012 and its products are available to the scientific community. In this work, SWH data from HY-2A altimeters are calibrated against in situ buoy data from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), Distinguished from previous calibration studies which generally regarded buoy data as “truth”, the work of calibration for HY-2A altimeter wave data against in situ buoys was applied a more sophisticated statistical technique—the total least squares (TLS) method which can take into account errors in both variables. We present calibration results for HY-2A radar altimeter measurement of wave height against NDBC buoys. In addition, cross-calibration for HY-2A and Jason-2 wave data are talked over and the result is given.