Combined high-resolution active and passive imaging of ocean surface winds from aircraft

Author

Gasiewski, A.J. ; Piepmeier, J.R. ; McIntosh, R.E. ; Swift, C.T. ; Carswell, J.R. ; Donnelly, W.J. ; Knapp, E. ; Westwater, E.R. ; Irisov, V.I. ; Fedor, L.S. ; Vandemark, D.C.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA

Volume

2

fYear

1997

fDate

3-8 Aug 1997

Firstpage

1001

Abstract

A unique complement of passive and active microwave imaging and sensing instruments for observing ocean surface emission and scattering signatures were integrated onto the NASA Wallops Flight Facility´s Orion P-3B aircraft (N426NA) for the purpose of studying the signature of ocean surface winds. The complement included: (i) a four-band (X, K, Ka, and W) tri-polarimetric scanning radiometer (PSR) (ii) a C-band ocean surface scatterometer (CSCAT), (iii) a Ka-band conical-scanning; polarimetric radiometer (KASPR), (iv) a nadir-viewing Ka-band polarimetric radiometer, (KAPOL) (v) a 21- and 31-GHz zenith-viewing cloud and water vapor radiometer (CWVR), and (vi) a radar ocean wave spectrometer (ROWS). The above Ocean Winds Imaging (OWI) complement was flown during January-March, 1997 over the Labrador Sea. Conically-scanned brightness temperature and backscatter imagery were observed over open ocean for a variety of wind speeds and cloud conditions. Presented herein are the results of a preliminary intercomparison of data from several of the OWI instruments

Keywords

airborne radar; atmospheric boundary layer; atmospheric techniques; microwave measurement; millimetre wave measurement; radiometry; remote sensing; remote sensing by radar; wind; EHF; SHF; airborne remote sensing; aircraft; atmosphere; marine boundary layer; measurement technique; microwave radiometry; mm wave; passive imaging; radar remote sensing; surface wind; wind; Aircraft; Clouds; High-resolution imaging; Instruments; Microwave imaging; Microwave radiometry; NASA; Ocean temperature; Radar scattering; Sea surface;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 1997. IGARSS '97. Remote Sensing - A Scientific Vision for Sustainable Development., 1997 IEEE International

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3836-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1997.615324

Filename

615324