The Effects of Random Error on the Measurement Results of Wide-Swath Interferometric Imaging Radar Altimeter

Aiming at the observation of sub-mesoscale ocean dynamics, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) proposed the GuanLan marine satellite program. The new interferometric imaging radar altimeter (InIRA) sensor is used to realize high accuracy observation of marine dynamics through Ku band and Ka band, which makes up for the deficiency of traditional altimeter in observation of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale marine dynamics. This paper mainly discusses the influence of random errors on the measurement results of InIRA. In the discussion, the random error caused by significant wave height (SWH) of global sea surface at different times, radar frequency, incident angle and correlation coefficient are considered and discussed respectively. The random errors caused by different factors are analyzed quantitatively.