SeaWinds on QuikSCAT Level 3 Daily Gridded Ocean Wind Vectors (JPL)
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Persistent IDPODAAC-QSXXX-L3000
Short NameQSCAT_LEVEL_3
DescriptionThis dataset contains 0.25 degree gridded ocean surface wind vector fields from the NASA SeaWinds scatterometer aboard the QuikSCAT satellite platform. Gridded wind vector fields are provided twice daily daily according to the timing of the ascending and descending satellite swath coverage; where multiple swaths from a particular ascending or descending sample period intersect a given point, the the data from the most recent swath coverage over-writes the data from the earlier (adjacent) swath. Quality flags are provided for each wind vector cell to assist in identifying potential rain contamination and whether data from both inner and outer beams are available. Wind vectors are null when within 30 km of land/ice boundaries or where there are no wind vector retrievals available. Gridded wind vector fields are processed directly from the QuikSCAT Level 2B swath data which uses the QSCAT-1 geophysical model function. No additional processing to the wind vector data is applied. The SeaWinds instrument is a conical scanning pencil-beam radar, with dual-beam and dual-polarization capability, operating at Ku-band to provide all-weather ocean surface wind vector retrievals. For more information on the QuikSCAT platform and mission, please visit http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/OceanWind/QuikSCAT . Disclaimer: this dataset is meant for quick-look purposes only and is not intended for science-quality research applications.
Journal ReferencePerry, K.L., October, 2001. SeaWinds on QuikSCAT Level 3 Daily, Gridded Ocean Wind Vectors (JPL SeaWinds Project). Version 1.1, JPL Document D-20335, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Dataset TypeOPEN
MeasurementOceans > Ocean Winds > Surface Winds > Ocean Surface Wind Vector
Processing Level3
CoverageRegion: Global
Northernmost Latitude: 89.875 degrees
Southernmost Latitude: -89.875 degrees
Westernmost Longitude: -180 degrees
Easternmost Longitude: 180 degrees
Time Span: 1999-Jul-19 to 2009-Nov-21
ResolutionSpatial Resolution: 0.25 degrees (Latitude) x 0.25 degrees (Longitude)
Temporal Resolution: 12-Hourly (Nominal)
ProjectionType: Gridded
Detail: -
Ellipsoid: WGS-84
Latency-
Platform/Sensor
QUIKSCAT
Platform
Name: QUIKSCAT (QUIKSCAT)
Orbit Period: 100.93 minutes
Inclination Angle: 98.6 degrees
Ascending Node: 1999-Jul-18 23:04:49
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SEAWINDS
SENSOR
Name: SeaWinds Scatterometer (SEAWINDS)
Swath Width: 1800 km
Description: SeaWinds is a Ku-band (13.4 GHz) Scatterometer which features a single circular scanning dish antenna to provide pencil-beam measurements, as opposed to the common fan beam design as seen with other spaceborne scatterometers. The pencil-beam design has several key advantages over the more common fan beam design: higher signal-to-noise ratio, smaller size, and superior coverage. The SeaWinds single antenna utilizes twin offset feeds, thus providing two pencil-beam footprint paths with an elliptical sampling footprint of approximately 25 km (in azimuth) by 37 km (in look/range direction); these pencil beams have opposing polarizations (i.e., vertical and horizontal), thus achieving dual-polarization. The SeaWinds instrument provides a full 1800 km-wide swath coverage (including the nadir region), which allows for a nominal daily measurement coverage of 90% over the ice-free oceans.

ProjectSeaWinds on ADEOS-II (SEAWINDS)
Data ProviderCreator: SeaPAC
Release Place: PO.DAAC
Release Date: 2006-Nov-15
Resource: ftp://podaac-ftp.jpl.nasa.gov/allData/quikscat/L3/jpl/docs/qscat_L3.pdf
Keyword(s)wind data, wind, ocean wind, wind speed, vector, vectors, ocean wind vector, ocean wind vectors, seawinds, quikscat, scatterometer, gridded
Questions related to this dataset? Contact podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov