Validation of Significant Wave Height from Satellite Altimeter in the Seas around Korea and Error Characteristics

Abstract

Significant wave height (SWH) from satellite altimeters (Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1, Envisat, and Jason-2) were validated in the seas around Korea by comparison with wave height measurements from marine meteorological buoy stations of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). A total 1,070 of collocation matchups between satellite altimeter data at Ku-band and buoy data were obtained for the periods of the four satellites from 1992 to the present. In case of C-band and S-band observations, 1,086 matchups were obtained and used to assess the accuracy of satellite SWH. Root-mean-square (RMS) errors of satellite SWH at Ku-band were evaluated to 0.2–2.1 m roughly. Comparisons of the rms errors and bias errors between different frequency bands exhibited that SWH observed at Ku-band was much better than other frequencies such as C-band or S-band. The differences between satellite SWH and buoy wave height, satellite minus buoy, revealed some dependence on magnitude of wave height. Satellite SWH tended to be overestimated at a range of low wave height of less than 1 m, whereas underestimated for high wave height of greater than 2 m. Such regional characteristics imply that satellite SWH should be carefully used in its usage for diverse purposes such as validating wave model result or data assimilation procedure. Thus, this study addressed that the validation of satellite SWH products should be continuously validated for regional applications.