Coastal application of scatterometer wind algorithms

Continuous shipboard in situ atmospheric and surface radar measurements were performed off the central west coast of Norway during an ERS-1 calibration/validation campaign: NORCSEX´91 in November 1991. Analyses and interpretations were performed to obtain wind parameters from ERS-1 C-band backscatter for several overpasses. Two algorithms for C-band backscatter were applied; a physical-based algorithm for neutral wind and an empirical based algorithm for friction velocity. Comparisons of in situ values with of ERS-1 scatterometer derived values were better for the friction velocity than for the neutral wind algorithm. Interpretations are also made of spatial features of coastal mesoscale responsible for observed temporal variations. The scatterometer two-dimensional wind field revealed a quite complex spatial pattern that agreed with temporally varying in situ measurement