Communique on veering wind effects on scatterometry from the sea-surface

To characterize scatterometer returns from the sea-surface near meteorological fronts, the authors investigated microwave scattering from seas in which long-waves are at oblique angles to short-waves. They simulate the effects of veering winds on a C-band scatterometer by using models in which the short-waves align with the wind-friction velocity u*, but the long-waves are at oblique angles to the u* direction. As the oblique angle increases, tilt effects due to the long-waves led to unusual scan patterns with reduced azimuthally-averaged radar cross-sections a₀.