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Tauro, C.B., Hejazin, Y., Jacob, M.M., and Jones, L. (17-Nov-15)

The CONAE MWR team in collaboration with CFRSL has developed an improved algorithm for retrieving ocean wind speeds using the newest MWR V7.0 brightness temperature data. The previous model used a linear regression to translate the MWR brightness temperature at 37 GHz vertical and horizontal polarizations to match WindSat brightness temperature at a 53° incidence angle. In contrast, the new model uses empirical coefficients derived using MWR brightness temperature at 36.5 GHz H- and V-pol with collocated oceanic and atmospheric environmental parameters from numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. Unlike the previous algorithm, this version makes a wind direction correction to the surface brightness temperature before retrieving atmospheric transmissivity and the isotropic ocean surface wind speed at 10 m height, and has two different sets of coefficients for each incidence angle. In addition, comprehensive on-orbit validation was conducted using MWR wind speed measurements with collocated satellite ocean wind speed retrievals. In this presentation the algorithm bases are presented, as well as a summary of validation results.