Simulation and Calculation of Sea State Bias Based on the Electromagnetic Backscattering from the Simulated Nonlinear Rough Sea Surface

Abstract

Abstract Due to the improvement of satellite orbit determination technology, sea state bias(SSB) has become the main source of altimeter height measurement error. In this paper, the physical mechanism and causes of SSB are simulated and analyzed by electromagnetic scattering, and the SSB correction method and model are given. Firstly, this paper simulates and studies four kinds of nonlinear rough sea surface and their electromagnetic scattering characteristics for the first time, calculates SSB from the physical mechanism of SSB, and analyzes the physical mechanism and process causes of SSB from the electromagnetic scattering characteristics. Secondly, a fitting model to correct SSB is proposed in terms of the electromagnetic simulation. Finally, the paper compares the “true value of SSB” of HY-2B satellite radar altimeter in China’s offshore waters with SSB calculated by the simulating model. The comparison results show that they are consistent with a weak bias, indicating that it is an effective method to correct SSB by simulating nonlinear rough sea surface and its electromagnetic scattering. It is expected to improve the accuracy of SSB correction by the new way of simulating the physical mechanism and causes of SSB.