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A new algorithm for sea-surface wind-speed retrieval based on the L-band radiometer onboard Aquarius

  • Remote sensing
  • Published:
Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aquarius is the second satellite mission to focus on the remote sensing of sea-surface salinity from space and it has mapped global sea-surface salinity for nearly 3 years since its launch in 2011. However, benefiting from the high atmospheric transparency and moderate sensitivity to wind speed of the L-band brightness temperature (TB), the Aquarius L-band radiometer can actually provide a new technique for the remote sensing of wind speed. In this article, the sea-surface wind speeds derived from TBs measured by Aquarius’ L-band radiometer are presented, the algorithm for which is developed and validated using multisource wind speed data, including WindSat microwave radiometer and National Data Buoy Center buoy data, and the Hurricane Research Division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory wind field product. The error analysis indicates that the performance of retrieval algorithm is good. The RMSE of the Aquarius wind-speed algorithm is about 1 and 1.5 m/s for global oceans and areas of tropical hurricanes, respectively. Consequently, the applicability of using the Aquarius L-band radiometer as a near all-weather wind-speed measuring method is verified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Jin Wang  (王进) & Jing Wang  (王晶)

  2. First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Jie Zhang  (张杰) & Chenqing Fan  (范陈清)

  3. College of Physics, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Jin Wang  (王进)

Authors
  1. Jin Wang  (王进)
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  2. Jie Zhang  (张杰)
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  3. Chenqing Fan  (范陈清)
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  4. Jing Wang  (王晶)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jing Wang  (王晶).

Additional information

Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2013AA09A505) and the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (No. 41306183)

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Wang, J., Zhang, J., Fan, C. et al. A new algorithm for sea-surface wind-speed retrieval based on the L-band radiometer onboard Aquarius. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 33, 1115–1123 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-015-4123-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-015-4123-9

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