Homogenization of scatterometer wind retrievals

Type Article
Date 2017-02
Language English
Author(s) Bentamy Abderrahim1, Grodsky Semyon A.2, Elyouncha Anis3, Chapron BertrandORCID1, Desbiolles Fabien1, 4
Affiliation(s) 1 : Inst Francais Rech & Exploitat Mer, Lab Oceanog Spatiale, Plouzane, France.
2 : Univ Maryland, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, College Pk, MD 20742 USA.
3 : Royal Mil Acad, Dept Commun Informat Syst & Sensors, Brussels, Belgium.
4 : UBO, LPO, Brest, France.
Source International Journal Of Climatology (0899-8418) (Wiley-blackwell), 2017-02 , Vol. 37 , N. 2 , P. 870-889
DOI 10.1002/joc.4746
WOS© Times Cited 32
Keyword(s) scatterometer, surface wind, homogenization
Abstract Surface winds (10 m equivalent neutral wind velocity) from scatterometer missions since 1992 to present require homogenization to meet the requirements for oceanic and atmospheric climate data records. Sources of differences between winds retrieved from different scatterometer measurements mainly arise from calibration/validation procedures used for each scatterometer and differences in measurement physics. In this study, we focus on the calibration/validation component of the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS)-1 and ERS-2 wind speed biases. ERS-1 and ERS-2 data, named as WNF products, are from the Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la MER (IFREMER). In addition to WNF data, the newly calibrated ERS-2 products provided by the European Space Agency (ESA), indicated as ASPS2.0 products, are also used. Our approach utilizes collocated satellite-buoy data. Expected values of the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) are calculated from buoy winds for each antenna beam using the Cmod5.n geophysical model function. The comparisons between expected and measured NRCS examine differences along with variables such as backscatter coefficient and incidence angle ranges. The difference between the expected and measured NRCS is then used to set up empirical models aiming at the correction for biases in ERS-1 and ERS-2 WNF NRCS calibrations. Finally, ERS-1 and ERS-2 wind retrievals are reprocessed using the corrected NRCS and Cmod5.n. These earlier corrected ERS-1/2 winds are analysed along with later scatterometer data (QuikSCAT and ASCAT-A) for their deviations from in situ buoy winds during 1992–2011 period. The scatterometer data homogeneity is also investigated at global scales based on the use of collocated scatterometer retrievals and atmospheric re-analyses winds derived from ERA Interim and CFSR models.
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