Radar altimeter wind and wave products are very important products for ocean wave and atmospheric models. They are used for model validation and for data assimilation (wave height only). The products need validation before they can be used for practical applications.

Sentinel-3A radar altimeter (SRAL) near real time (NRT) Level 2 STM Marine Product (SR_2_WAT) backscatter, surface wind speed and significant wave height (SWH) are globally validated. Model fields produced by the operational ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), which is one of the most comprehensive global weather forecasting systems, will be used for the assessment. The in-situ measurements and measurements from other altimeters on-board Cryosat, Jason-2, and SARAL/AltiKa will be used as well.

Sentinel-3A SWH will be calibrated to make it consistent with that from other altimeters. This is an important requirement for data assimilation and other practical applications.

The results will be presented and discussed.