Test of an advanced algorithm to retrieve complex wind fields over the black sea from Envisat SAR images

Several algorithms have been proposed to retrieve near-surface wind fields from C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired over the ocean. They mainly differ in the way how to retrieve wind direction. Conventionally, the wind direction is taken from an atmospheric model or extracted from linear features visible on SAR images. Recently a new wind retrieval algorithm has been proposed by Mouche et al. (2012), which includes also the Doppler shift induced by motions of the sea surface. We have tested this algorithm on complex wind fields encountered over the Black Sea. It is shown that the new algorithm yields better near-surface wind fields than conventional wind retrieval algorithms.