Measurement of oceanic wind vector using satellite microwave radiometers

Author

Wentz, Frank J.

Author_Institution

Remote Sensing Syst., Santa Rosa, CA, USA

Volume

30

Issue

5

fYear

1992

fDate

9/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

960

Lastpage

972

Abstract

The possibility of retrieving both wind speed and direction from microwave radiometer measurements of the ocean is studied using Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) measurements collocated with buoy reports from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). A physically based algorithm is used to retrieve the wind speed. The RMS difference between the SSM/I and buoy wind speed is 1.6 m/s for 3321 comparisons. It is found that the SSM/I minus buoy wind speed difference is correlated with wind direction. When this wind direction signal is removed, the RMS difference between the SSM/I and buoy winds reduces to 1.3 m/s. The wind direction signal is used to make global, low-resolution maps of the monthly mean oceanic vector. The wind direction sensing capability of a prospective two-look satellite radiometer is also processed

Keywords

atmospheric boundary layer; atmospheric techniques; oceanography; radiometry; remote sensing; wind; Special Sensor Microwave/Imager; algorithm; boundary layer; oceanic wind vector; satellite microwave radiometers; wind direction; wind speed; Image retrieval; Image sensors; Information retrieval; Microwave measurements; Microwave radiometry; Oceans; Satellite broadcasting; Sea measurements; Velocity measurement; Wind speed;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.175331

Filename

175331