Performance of a scanning pencil-beam spaceborne scatterometer for ocean wind measurementsSimulation results show that a scatterometer design using two pencil beams scanning at different incidence angles measures the near-surface oceanic winds from a satellite better under most conditions than previous designs. The return signals from the ocean surface are much stronger than those from the fan beams used previously. Performance on a polar-orbiting satellite is compared with that of a fan beam spaceborne scatterometer. A wider and continuous swath is covered. The improvement in performance is higher at low wind speeds, so it is particularly suitable for measuring the low-mean-speed tropical wind fields. Performance on a low altitude tropic-orbiting platform such as the Space Station is also shown.
Moore, R. K. (Kansas Univ. Center for Research Inc., Lawrence., United States)
Kennett, R. G. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Fuk, K. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: ESA, Proceedings of the 1988 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 1988) on Remote Sensing: Moving Towards the 21st Century, Volume 1