Satellite observations used for validation
The satellite observations are from the JASON-1 / JASON-2 / Jason-3 altimetry satellites, which use the radar principle to measure the significant wave height (SWH), height of the sea surface and wind speed. The SWH observations are performed in two frequencies, c band and ku band. Only observations from the ku band have been used for this validation. Compared with in situ buoy observations, the RMS errors of the satellite observations are about 0.25 m. The current version contains satellite SWH observations up to 15 m.
The Jason-1 satellite flies in an exact repeat orbit. With a repeat period of 9.916 days, this means that the satellite observe the same location approximately every 10 day. The positions of the satellite observations are shown in blue in the figure below
Lefevre and Cotton, 2001. Ocean Surface Waves, Chapter 7 in: Satellite Altimetry and Earth Sciences,
Edited by Fu and Cazenave, Associated Press.
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Comments and suggestions
Feel free to send any comments and suggestions to Jacob L.
Høyer jlh@dmi.dk