Comparison of sea surface wind speed fields by SEASAT radar altimeter, scatterometer and scanning multichannel microwave radiometer with an emphasis on the Southern Ocean

The SEASAT altimeter (ALT), scatterometer (SASS), and scanning microwave multichannel radiometer (SMMR) measured sea surface wind speed. During the satellite lifetime from June to October 1978, the Austral winter, the highest wind speeds were recorded in the Southern Ocean. Three-month, monthly, and three-day surface wind speed fields deduced from the three Seasat wind speed sensors are compared. The monthly and three-day fields show a pronounced mesoscale (1000 km) variability in wind speed. At all space and time scales analyzed, differences of 40% are found in the magnitude of the wind speed features, with the ALT consistently yielding the lowest wind speed and the SMMR the highest.