Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1764115 | Advances in Space Research | 2015 | 16 Pages |
Abstract
Since the launch of China's first altimetry and scatterometry satellite, Haiyang-2A (HY-2A), various validation studies of HY-2A radar altimetry using preliminary data products have been conducted. Here, we present the first comprehensive result assessing HY-2A's altimeter data quality and the altimetry system performance using an improved HY-2A Geophysical Data Record (GDR) product (Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics reprocessed GDR product version A, GDR_IGGA). The main improvements include altimeter timing and waveform retracking, and tropospheric, ionospheric, and sea-state bias (SSB) corrections, which resulted in more accurate HY-2A sea surface height observations. Jason-2 altimeter observations are used for the cross calibration of the HY-2A altimeter over the oceans between ±60° latitude bounds, primarily due to the limitation of Jason-2 coverage. The statistical results from single- and dual-satellite altimeter crossover analysis demonstrated that HY-2A fulfills its mission requirements. We uncovered a mean relative bias of â0.21 cm (with respect to Jason-2), and a standard deviation of 6.98 cm from dual-satellite crossover analysis. In addition, we present the results of a detailed analysis on variance reduction studies for the various geophysical corrections from HY-2A and compared them with Jason-2. The wave-number spectra of HY-2A and Jason-2 sea-level anomalies show similar spectral content, verifying the performance of HY-2A altimetry to be similar to Jason-2. Open issues and the remaining HY-2A data problems have been identified, allowing prospective future studies for further improvement of its accuracy.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Space and Planetary Science
Authors
Lifeng Bao, Peng Gao, Hailong Peng, Yongjun Jia, C.K. Shum, Minseng Lin, Qi Guo,