Calibration of SARAL/AltiKa Wind Speed

Author

Abdalla, S.

Author_Institution

Eur. Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK

Volume

11

Issue

6

fYear

2014

fDate

Jun-14

Firstpage

1121

Lastpage

1123

Abstract

Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa (SARAL)/AltiKa is the first oceanographic radar altimeter that operates in Ka-band which is very sensitive to the atmospheric factors like liquid water and water vapor. An empirical recipe is proposed to partially compensate for this impact for the purpose of ocean surface wind speed (SWS) evaluation. The results compare well with numerical prediction model fields and in situ measurements. SARAL SWS computed using the proposed recipe shows very low bias (below 0.4 m/s). The random error at a scale of 75 km is estimated at about 1.0 m/s, which is very close to that of the Ku-band altimeters.

Keywords

atmospheric electromagnetic wave propagation; atmospheric humidity; atmospheric optics; calibration; oceanographic equipment; oceanographic techniques; radar altimetry; radiowave propagation; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; wind; Ka-band operation; SARAL SWS; SARAL-AltiKa wind speed calibration; Satellite with Argos and AltiKa; atmospheric factors; atmospheric liquid water; atmospheric water vapor; ocean SWS evaluation; ocean surface wind speed; oceanographic radar altimeter; Atmospheric measurements; Atmospheric modeling; Backscatter; Computational modeling; Radar; Sea measurements; Wind speed; AltiKa; Ka-band; Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa (SARAL); backscatter; radar altimeter (RA); wind speed;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1545-598X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LGRS.2013.2287805

Filename

6678082