Modification of Globwave satellite altimetry database for sea wave field diagnostics

Abstract

A new database of ocean wave parameters has been created based on satellite altimetry observations. The basis was data from the European Space Agency project GlobWave (www.globwave.org), which was transformed to suit upcoming requirements for global wave analysis. The new database contains additional wave characteristics (altimetry wind speed estimated using different parametric models, steepness, period, and some quality control parameters). It provides up-to-date tools for mass data preprocessing. The new database makes it possible to optimize wave field diagnostics on regional and global scales. Using the Envisat and Jason-1 satellite missions as an the example, we demonstrate the specific features of using the initial GlobalWave data set and the modified database.