Open AccessCombined estimates improve high‐resolution coastal wind mapping
Author(s) -
Thompson Donald R.,
Monaldo Frank M.,
Beal Robert C.,
Winstead Nathaniel S.,
Pichel William G.,
ClementeColón Pablo
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/01eo00278
Subject(s) - remote sensing , footprint , synthetic aperture radar , environmental science , shore , high resolution , radar , wind speed , meteorology , geology , geography , oceanography , computer science , paleontology , telecommunications
The operational meteorological community and the numerical weather prediction community share a common need for high‐resolution estimates of the near‐surface wind field in data‐sparse regions of the globe, such as the coastal zones of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Wind estimates over coastal waters using conventional multiple‐antenna scatterometers or passive microwave sensors are difficult to obtain because the large footprint associated with these sensors results in significant contamination from land. Since synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide high‐resolution imagery of the surface virtually up to the shoreline, “SAR scatterometry” represents a potentially significant new technique for measuring ocean‐surface wind fields at resolutions more than an order of magnitude finer than is now possible with any other spaceborne technique.