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| Carl Davies, David Cotton and Peter Challenor |
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James Rennell Division, Southampton Oceanography Centre,
Empress Dock, Southampton, Hants, SO14 3ZH, UK
phone: +44-1703-596401, fax: +44-1703-596400
email: cgd soc.soton.ac.uk
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Abstract
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Conventionally the radar altimeter is used to measure sea level, wave height and wind speed. However it can be shown that it is possible to derive a measure of wave period as well. Based on this theoretical derivation we describe a semi-empirical estimate of zero up-crossing period. This involves the theoretical wave period and wave age easily calculated from altimetry. The algorithm is derived from two years of coincident ERS and NOAA buoy data. The model is validated using an independent data set of ERS/NOAA comparisons and achieve an rms accuracy of 0.52 seconds. The consequences of this new measurement for wave research will be discussed.
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EO Data Access
