Risk Reduction & Heritage
WindSat
Project Description
Coriolis WindSat is a joint Navy/DoD/IPO risk reduction demonstration project intended to measure ocean surface /wind speed/ and /wind direction/ from space using a polarimetric radiometer. Launched by an Air Force Titan II rocket into a 830-km 98.7-degree orbit, it was designed for a three-year lifetime that was achieved on January 6, 2006.
WindSat/Coriolis is an interagency cooperation success story. Sponsored by the Navy, IPO and the DoD Space Test Program, the Naval Research Lab designed and demonstrated the concept of polarimetric radiometry to measure ocean surface wind speed and wind direction, as well as sea surface temperature. The WindSat sensor measures the ocean surface wind field at a horizontal resolution of 25 km using a 1.9-m diameter reflector that is almost three times as large as the antenna on the DMSP Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMIS).
Wind speed Oct 3-12, 1992
Capability/Improvements
Measure ocean surface wind direction (nonprecipitating conditions) 25-km spatial resolution
Secondary Measurements
- Sea surface temperature
- soil moisture
- rain rate
- ice and snow characteristics
- water vapor
