Title | Characterizing the Effect of Ocean Surface Currents on Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) Winds Using Open Ocean Moored Buoy Data |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2023 |
Authors | Cheng, T, Chen, Z, Li, J, Xu, Q, Yang, H |
Journal | Remote Sensing |
Volume | 15 |
Pagination | 4630 |
Keywords | ASCAT, moored buoys, ocean surface current, sea surface wind |
Abstract | The ocean surface current influences the roughness of the sea surface, subsequently affecting the scatterometer’s measurement of wind speed. In this study, the effect of surface currents on ASCAT-retrieved winds is investigated based on in-situ observations of both surface winds and currents from 40 open ocean moored buoys in the tropical and mid-latitude oceans. A total of 28,803 data triplets, consisting of buoy-observed wind vectors, current vectors, and ASCAT Level 2 wind vectors, were collected from the dataset spanning over 10 years. It is found that the bias between scatterometer-retrieved wind speed and buoy-observed wind speed is negatively correlated with the ocean surface current speed. The wind speed bias is approximately 0.96 times the magnitude of the downwind surface current. The root-mean-square error between the ASCAT wind speeds and buoy observations is reduced by about 15% if rectification with ocean surface currents is involved. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate surface current information into wind speed calibration, particularly in regions with strong surface currents. |
DOI | 10.3390/rs15184630 |