Near-Real-Time Significant Wave Heights in Hurricanes from a New Airborne KA-Band Interferometric Altimeter.

During the 2020 hurricane season, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) Ocean Surface Winds Team (OSWT) in collaboration with Remote Sensing Solutions (RSS) operated the RSS Ka-band Interferometric Altimeter (KaIA) from the NOAA WP-3D aircraft, making the first comprehensive set of airborne Ka-band radar altimeter measurements of a tropical cyclone. KaIA is a nadir-looking Ka-band interferometric radar altimeter with a real-time tracker/retracker and is capable of centimetric radar altimetry. This paper shows significant wave height (SWH) retrievals from the 2020 hurricane season and compares them to wave models, and satellite and buoy observations.