Implications of QuikSCAT and RADARSAT wind comparisons for SAR wind speed model functions

Active microwave scatterometers such as the SeaWinds scatterometer on QuikSCAT measure wind speed and direction over the world´s oceans at 25 km resolution. This resolution does not capture much of the wind field spatial variability in coastal regions. High-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can measure normalized radar cross section at sub-km resolution. The RADARSAT SAR has been effectively used to measure high-resolution wind fields. This paper systematically compares QuikSCAT scatterometer and RADARSAT SAR winds over the years 2000 and 2001. The results obtained thus far demonstrate that modest changes in the SAR to NRCS model function can improve the SAR wind speed retrievals.