A field-wise wind retrieval algorithm for seawinds /

by Richards, Stephen L.

In the spring of 1999 NASA will launch the scatterometer SeaWinds, beginning a 3 year mission to measure the ocean winds. SeaWinds is different from previous spaceborne scatterometers in that it employs a rotating pencil-beam antenna as opposed to fixed fan-beam antennas. The scanning beam provides greater coverage but causes the wind retrieval accuracy to vary across the swath. This thesis develops a filed-wise wind retrieval algorithm to improve the overall wind retrieval accuracy for use with SeaWinds data.