Intercomparison of four ocean vector wind products from Oceansat-2 Scatterometer

Statistical distribution of wind speeds and directions contained in four vector wind products based on observations by the Oceansat-2 Scatterometer (OSCAT) over the global oceans were compared to validate the products. The four OSCAT wind products were produced by the National Remote Sensing Center/Indian Space Research Organization (NRSC/ISRO), the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NESDIS/NOAA), the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) scatterometer team, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (JPL/NASA). Global histograms of wind speeds and directions calculated from these OSCAT wind products clearly exhibited and characterized systematic errors in the wind data.