SeaWinds Information

Products / Announcements / Documentation / Known Problems & Issues / FAQs / Related Publications / Acronyms

Mission
SeaWinds on ADEOS-II was intended as a follow-on mission to the QuikSCAT mission, where the onboard scatterometer (SeaWinds) is an identical twin to SeaWinds on QuikSCAT. ADEOS-II was launched on December 14, 2002, where it began successful operation on April 10, 2003; an unexpected power loss on October 24, 2003 resulted in termination of the ADEOS-II mission. This mission was jointly operated by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and NASA/JPL. In contrast to the QuikSCAT mission, ADEOS-II served a multitude of scientific purposes. First, it helped to provide twice the daily temporal coverage of ocean wind vector measurements when combined with QuikSCAT data (from April until October, 2003). Second, the satellite carried additional instruments from various Japanese agencies, such as the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR), Global Imager (GLI), Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer-II (ILAS-II); the French government space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), provided an additional instrument known as the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER). The AMSR instrument provided ocean surface wind speed, columnar water vapor, columnar liquid water, sea surface temperature, and sea ice by observing the passive microwave energy emitted from the Earth's surface. The AMSR data was later used to improve the SeaWinds processing algorithm (correcting for atmospheric attenuation and improved rain flagging) which was eventually incorporated in the reprocessing of the entire SeaWinds on QuikSCAT and ADEOS-II datasets in June of 2006.

Artistic rendering of the ADEOS-II satellite platform. Credit: NASA/JPL.

SeaWinds Table

Products

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	0.25°
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Where adjacent swaths intersect, the latest measurement overwrites the previous measurement.

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	25 km
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Files are organized according to individual orbital revolutions (revs). There are typically 14 revs per day.

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	12.5 km
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Files are organized according to individual orbital revolutions (revs). There are typically 14 revs per day.

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	25 km
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Identical to the non-AMSR Level 2B product, with the exception of two added parameters: 'rain_impact_speed' and 'rain_impact_dir'. These added parameters are the estimated errors from rain contamination with respect to wind speed and direction.

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	0.25°
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Identical to the non-AMSR Level 3 product, except that this data set also includes empirical attenuation and backscatter corrections based on the AMSR radiometer.

	FTP HEFT	s/w	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	22.5 km
Documentation: User Manual Abstract Related Publications	Comments:		Data and Software is provided (BYU) to generate Level 3 Sigma-0 browse images. Pre-plotted Sigma-0 browse images are provided in GIF format for the globe and various ocean regions.

Announcements
The NSCAT mission has ended as of June 30, 1997.

The SeaWinds on QuikSCAT and ADEOS-II Multi-Algorithm Surface Wind Stress product has been removed as of April, 2007.

QuikSCAT Follow-on Mission Concept Study (JPL Publication 08-18, April 2008).
To continue to meet the Nation's need for operational ocean surface vector winds (OSVW) observations beyond QuikSCAT, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tasked the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design and provide costs for a set of QuikSCAT Follow-On mission options. Three scenarios were examined: 1) a QuikSCAT Replacement mission with capabilities equivalent to QuikSCAT, 2) a next-generation Extended Ocean Vector Winds Mission (XOVWM), as recommended in the National Research Council's decadal survey to provide significantly improved all-weather, all-wind, high spatial resolution measurements, and 3) an XOVWM Constellation consisting of two XOVWM observatories to provide improved temporal resolution. In parallel, NOAA asked its users to provide a quantitative assessment of each option's benefit to NOAA. This report presents the JPL design, risk assessment, and cost for each of the three options, together with a summary of the NOAA users' benefit assessment.

Operational Satellite Ocean Surface Vector Winds Project (NOAA, February 2008).
Satellite ocean surface vector wind (OSVW) data has revolutionized operational marine weather warnings, analyses, and forecasting. To maintain the significant improvements in operational weather forecasting and warning capability that have been realized from QuikSCAT OSVW data requires continuity of the OSVW data stream at a level that is equivalent to or better than that provided today by QuikSCAT. This report documents the results of the user impact study conducted to evaluate the impacts of a QuikSCAT equivalent and an advanced next-generation OSVW (XOVWM) follow-on mission on the marine weather warning and forecasting functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A significant result of this study is that the XOVWM mission would greatly enhance the detection and warning capability across a wide range of weather phenomena for nearly all of the National Weather Service's coastal, offshore, high seas, and Great Lakes marine areas of responsibility. An XOVWM capability would yield significant benefits over a QuikSCAT equivalent capability in the forecast and warning program with respect to extratropical cyclones, tropical cyclones, coastal regions, and the Great Lakes. Other information and reports related to the NOAA operational satellite OSVW concept can be downloaded here.

Documentation
BYU Sigma-0 User's Manual: ftp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/ocean_wind/seawinds/sigma0browse/doc/dLongSWBrw.pdf

SeaWinds Level 2B 25/12.5 km User's Guide: ftp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/ocean_wind/seawinds/L2B/doc/SWS_L2B.pdf

SeaWinds Level 3 User's Guide: ftp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/ocean_wind/seawinds/L3/doc/SWS_L3.pdf

SeaWinds Science Data Product User's Manual: ftp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/ocean_wind/seawinds/L2B/doc/SWS_SDPUG_V2.0.pdf

SeaWinds on ADEOS-II Mission: http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/seawinds/index.cfm#mission

Known Problems and Issues
List known problems.

Frequently Asked Questions
SeaWinds on ADEOS-II FAQ's

Related Publications

Ashcraft, I.S. and D.G. Long, 2000. SeaWinds Views Greenland, Proc. Int. Geosci. Rem. Sens. Sym., Honolulu, Hawaii, 6-10 July 2000.

Dunbar, R.S., S.V. Hsiao, and B.H. Lambrigtsen, Science Algorithm Specifications for the NASA Scatterometer Project, JPL D-5610 (597-521), Vol. 1 (Sensor Algorithms) and Vol. 2 (Geophysical Algorithms). Issued May 1988, last updated November 1991.

Dunbar, R.S., T. Lungu, B. Weiss, B. Stiles, J. Huddleston, P.S. Callahan, G. Shirtliffe, K.L. Perry, C. Hsu, C. Mears, F. Wentz, D. Smith, September, 2006. QuikSCAT Science Data Product User's Manual, Version 3.0, JPL Document D-18053 - Rev A, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

Freilich, M.H., and R.S. Dunbar, "A Preliminary C-Band Scatterometer Model Function for the ERS-1 AMI Instrument," Proceedings of the First ERS-1 Symposium: Space at the Service of our Environment, Cannes, 4-6 November 1992, ESA SP-359, European Space Agency, Paris.

Long, D.G., 2000. A QuikSCAT/SeaWinds Sigma-0 Browse Product, Version 2.0, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.

Long, D.G. and M.R. Drinkwater, 1999. Cryosphere Applications of NSCAT Data, IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 1671-1684

Huddleston, J.N. and B.W. Stiles, 2000. Multidimensional Histogram (MUDH) Rain Flag Product Description, Version 2.1, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

Perry, 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.

Naderi, F.M., M.H. Freilich, and D.G. Long, "Spaceborne Radar Measurement of Wind Velocity Over the Ocean - An Overview of the NSCAT Scatterometer System," Proc. IEEE, 79, 6, June 1991.

Remund, Q.P. and D.G. Long, 1998. Sea Ice Mapping Algorithm for QuikSCAT and Seawinds, Proc. Int. Geosci. Rem. Sens. Sym., Seattle, Washington, 6-10 July, 1998, pp. 1686-1688.

Remund, Q.P. and D.G. Long, 2000. Iterative Estimation of Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Using SeaWinds Data, Proc. Int. Geosci. Rem. Sens. Sym., Honolulu, Hawaii, 6-10 July 2000

Shaffer, S., R.S. Dunbar, S.V. Hsiao, and D.G. Long, "A Median-Filter-Based Ambiguity Removal Algorithm for NSCAT," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 29, 1991.

Tang, W., W. T. Liu, and B. W. Stiles, 2004: Evaluation of High-Resolution Ocean Surface Vector Winds Measured by QuikSCAT Scatterometer in Coastal Regions, IEEE, Vol. 42, No. 8, pp. 1762-1769.

Tsai, W., J.E. Graf, C. Winn, J.N. Huddleston, R.S. Dunbar, M.H. Freilich, F.J. Wentz, D.G. Long, and W.L. Jones, "Postlaunch Sensor Verification and Calibration of the NASA Scatterometer," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., vol. 37, pp. 1517-1542, May 1999.

Weiss, B., "Level 1B Data Software Interface Specification (SIS-2)", Internal JPL SeaWinds Project Document 686-644-1 Rev A, JPL Document D-16077, January 2000.

Weiss, B., "Level 2A Data Software Interface Specification (SIS-2)", Internal JPL SeaWinds Project Document 686-644-2 Rev A, JPL Document D-16078, April 2000.

Weiss, B., "Level 2B Data Software Interface Specification (SIS-2)", Internal JPL SeaWinds Project Document 686-644-3 Rev B, JPL Document D-16079, April 2000.

Wentz, F.J., "Climatology of 14 GHz Atmospheric Attenuation," Remote Sensing Systems Tech. Memo 052096, May 1996.

Zhang, A., R.S. Dunbar, S.V. Hsiao, K. Pak, Y. Kim, "Science Algorithm Specifications for SeaWinds," Internal JPL SeaWinds project document, 1996, 1999.