RSIT: A waveform retracking method based on reconstructed sea surface height and iterative threshold for coastal altimetry data

• The reconstructed sea surface height is used as prior information to determine the initial retracking gate. • Iterating scale factors to re-identify oceanic sub-waveforms within highly reflective waveforms. • RSIT can stably retrack most types of coastal altimetry waveforms, including complex waveforms. Extending satellite radar altimetry measurements from the open ocean to the coastal zone can improve the accuracy and quality of monitoring coastal sea level. However, radar altimetry waveforms can be distorted by any inhomogeneity in the properties of the surface observed within the footprints, possibly leading to range measurement errors. To address these issues, a coastal retracking method based on reconstructed sea surface height and iterative threshold (RSIT) is proposed in this paper. RSIT involves several steps: First, the sea surface height components are reconstructed as prior information to compute the initial retracking gate. Next, iterate the amplitude scale factor of the entire waveform to identify possible sub-waveforms. After each iteration, continuity between neighboring sub-waveforms is assessed. Eventually, the optimal retracking gate is determined from all identified sub-waveforms. We validated RSIT using Jason-2 data in the coastal regions of Australia and Pakistan. Experimental results show that RSIT can retrieve more available altimetry data and enhance the accuracy by nearly 37.5% and 23.1% compared to ALES within the last few kilometers to the coast, respectively. Moreover, the impact of varied errors in reconstructed sea surface height on RSIT was discussed, with the results reveal that RSIT has strong robustness to errors within 1 m, making it suitable for application in most coastal zones.