Evaluation of SAMOSA3 adapted retracker using Cryosat-2 SAR altimetry data over the Arctic ocean

European Space Agency´s Cryosat-2 comes with the first ever SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) altimeter onboard a satellite. In this work precise sea surface heights and gravity fields are determined using Cryosat-2 SAR data. These determinations through satellite altimetry are difficult in the Arctic because of the presence of sea ice and coastal areas. Traditional retrackers generate erroneous results due to the superposition of echoes from the sea surface and sea ice. This work establishes an adaptation of the SAMOSA3 retracker as a suitable candidate; this model is improved and customized for the Arctic. Through this research it has been demonstrated that the SAMOSA3 retracker has a better performance as compared to other SAR retrackers when sea surface height and gravity field determination needs to be done. The performance evaluation of the SAMOSA3 retracker as compared to other retrackers has been done using sea surface height anomaly method and gravity field anomaly method.