A day-to-day comparison study of Seasat scatterometer winds with winds observed from islands in the tropical Pacific

摘要

The winds derived from the Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) measurements have been the subject of great interest since the 1978 mission, because of the promise of radically improved wind observations over the world ocean. Due to the early end of the mission, only a few of the planned ground truth validation experiments could be made, and the subsequent lack of sufficient high quality independent wind data for comparison has limited the ability to resolve critical issues regarding the scatterometer's performance and the correct interpretation of its signal. Operational weather observations were made of ocean winds independent of Seasat mission plans during the Seasat mission period; the results are reported of a comparison study using such observations. Previous verification with in situ winds has been primarily in middle latitudes (GOASEX, JASIN, and NDBO buoys); winds observed from nine tropical Pacific islands are compared with nearly contemporaneous measurements taken by SASS during overpasses of the islands.