ERS Wind Scatterometer - Sample image generated from Fast Delivery Product data

The image shows data from the Scatterometer instrument acquired on 28th November 2000 and colored red, green or blue according to which of the three antennas within the instrument provided the measurements. Each antenna provides a measure of the sea surface roughness from a particular viewing angle and this can be related to the speed and direction characteristics of the local wind field.

In general, the measured sea surface roughness from each antenna are combined into a standard wind field product which provides accurate wind speed and direction measurements over an area of approximately 500 Km by 500 Km with a grid spacing of 25 Km. However, additional processing is also possible such as the analysis of measurements from different viewing angles, as shown here, which enables a greater insight to be built up regarding the dynamics associated with the evolution and measurement of intense cyclonic systems. The standard data products from the scatterometer provide not only an unprecedented volume of homogeneous wind measurements to meteorologists, but also detailed structure on intense geophysical phenomena such as tropical cyclones where it is normally very difficult to obtain measurements.

The wind field example above, of hurricane Rumbia in southeast Asia, 28 November 2000, was produced by ESA-ESRIN's Product Control Service.

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry