A method and apparatus for channel estimation based on extracting channel information, including noise spectral density, from a received signal, and advantageously exploiting that information for improved channel estimation accuracy. One embodiment is directed to a method of generating channel estimates in a wireless communication receiver, for processing a received communication signal. The method includes generating first channel estimates from a set of pilot observations obtained from the received communication signal, using a first channel estimation process that is not dependent on knowledge of channel statistics. The method further includes estimating channel statistics and a noise variance from the first channel estimates, and generating second channel estimates from the set of pilot observations, the estimated channel statistics, and the estimated noise variance, using a second channel estimation process that is dependent on knowledge of the channel statistics.