The SeaWinds scatterometer aboard NASA's QuikScat satellite collected the
data used to create this colorful image of Cyclone Olaf churning in the
South Pacific on February 16, 2005. The colored background shows the
near-surface wind speeds at 2.5-kilometer resolution. The strongest winds,
shown in purple, are at the center of the storm, with gradually weakening
winds forming rings around the center. The black barbs indicate wind speed
and direction at QuikScat's nominal, 25-kilometer resolution; white barbs
indicate areas of heavy rain.
QuikScat Background
NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikScat) spacecraft was launched from
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on June 19, 1999. QuikScat carries
the SeaWinds scatterometer, a specialized microwave radar that measures
near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud
conditions over the Earth's oceans. More information about the QuikScat
mission and observations is available at http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov.
QuikScat is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington,
DC, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. JPL also built the
SeaWinds radar instrument and is providing ground science processing
systems. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, managed
development of the satellite, designed and built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Boulder, CO. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has contributed support to ground systems processing and
related activities.
