Calibration of significant wave height from HY-2A satellite altimeter

The HY-2A, which was launched on 2011/8/16, is the first microwave marine remote sensing satellite developed by China. In this paper, the significant wave height (SWH) data measured by HY-2A satellite altimeter were compared with the data observed by Jason-1/2 satellite altimeter as well as the data measured by buoys. It was found that there was a systematic error of 0.3-0.4 m between SWH obtained from HY-2A and Jason-1/2 altimeters and buoys. The comparison indicated that there was a linear relationship between the data of HY-2A and buoys, which could be used to calibrate SWH measured by HY-2A to better reflect the real marine situation. Comparisons show that the results are good and HY-2A altimetry data work well with Jason-1/2 satellite altimetry data.