SSMI wind speed measurements over the Southern Hemisphere oceans

The Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) carried by the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft correlates the intensity of microwave radiation emitted at the ocean surface with the 10-m height wind speed. The 4-year mean global features of the SSMI data were similar to the climatological-mean annual wind speed estimated from ship reports. Time series of area-weighted 60 deg S - zero deg monthly mean wind speeds indicated that the South Indian Ocean had the largest wind speeds throughout the year.