The Retracking Technique on Multi-Peak and Quasi-Specular Waveforms for Jason-1 and Jason-2 Missions near the Coast

Abstract

This article presents the waveform retracking technique for two predominant waveform classes near the coast: quasi-specular and multi-peak echoes. The technique retracks the truncated sub-waveform rather than the full-waveform. Sub-waveforms, which are only based on returns reflected from the water surface, are extracted and retracked using the Brown model. The retracker is applied to simulated waveforms and Jason-1 and Jason-2 waveforms in the Great Barrier Reef. When using it as a supplement to the full-waveform retracker, results show that retracked SSHs can be extended further to the coastline, up to ∼2–6 km for Jason-1 and ∼1–7 km for Jason-2.