Ocean surface wind speed measurements of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I)

An operational wind speed algorithm was developed. This algorithm is based on the D-matrix approach, which seeks a linear relationship between measured SSM/I brightness temperatures and environmental parameters. D-matrix performance in the low-to-medium wind speed range was validated by comparing algorithm-derived wind speeds with near-simultaneous and colocated measurements made by the anemometers of offshore ocean buoys. Results indicate that for approximately 85% of the time, the D-matrix-retrieved winds will have an accuracy better than the Defense Meteorological Space Program goal of ±2 m/s. For the remaining 15% of the time, the scene will be rain-flagged and retrieval accuracies will be worse than ±2 m/s