The Scatterometer menu to your right provide information concerning the SPPA activities for this instrument. 

A brief description of the instrument, its operations and main mission highlights is available in the sections below:

  Sensor Description   |    Sensor Modes   |   Mission Operations Overview    

These pages contain information on the Wind Scatterometer instrument operations and products. The ERS-1 Scatterometer was designed to measure wind over the oceans by measuring changes in radar backscatter caused by the wind. The instrument has three antennae, which emit radar signals, striking the ocean surface at varying angles. The radar power backscattered measurements are input into mathematical model to calculate the surface wind speed and direction, or used directly over ice and land.