Climatology of wind and waves from satellite altimeters

Based on comparisons with buoy data, the wind speed and wave height measured by satellite altimeters are in excellent agreement with in-situ measurements. In regions of low swell effects, the combination of wind speed and wave height further yields the information of wave period. The long-term monitoring of these wave parameters from satellite altimeters can be used to study the wave climate of the world oceans. Examples from application to the Gulf of Mexico and the Yellow and East China Seas are presented. Using three years of TOPEX/POSEIDON continuous data, the annual and seasonal maps of the wind and wave climatology of the two regions can be constructed. Many mesoscale features can be clearly identified, and the geometric effects on the wave pattern can be seen from the wind and wave distributions