A study on wind vector retrieval algorithm for rotating fan-beam scatterometer

Rotating fan-beam scatterometer (RFSCAT) is a new type of satellite scatterometer that was proposed about one decade ago.However, just as other rotating scatterometers, relatively larger wind retrieval errors occur in the nadir and outer regions than in the middle regions of the swath. In order to address this problem, a modified wind vector retrieval algorithm for RFSCAT is presented in this paper. The new algorithm is featured with adaptively extending the range of wind direction for each wind vector cell position across the whole swath according to the distribution histogram of the retrieved wind direction bias. Simulation experiments demonstrated that the new established algorithm can effectively improve the wind direction retrieval accuracy in the nadir and outer regions of the RFSCAT swath.