CORRECTIONS FOR THE EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AND ATTITUDE ON GEOSAT RADAR ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS

Range estimates from a radar altimeter have biases which are a function of the significant wave height (SWH) and the satellite attitude angle. Based on results of pre-launch Geosat modeling and simulation by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, a correction for SWH and attitude was already applied to the sea surface height estimates from Geosat's production data processing. By fitting a detailed model radar return waveform to Geosat waveform sampler data, we can provide an independent estimate of the height bias due to SWH and attitude angle. The waveform fitting also produced independent estimates of the SWH and of the attitude angle. -from Authors