Engineering topics

Peteherych, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Peteherych, S..

15 records

NASA NTRS1986

The necessity for a new parameterization of an empirical model for wind/ocean scatterometry

Difficulties related to the paucity of weather observation data regarding oceans were potentially alleviated for three summer months in 1978 when NASA's Seasat telemetered data from three wind-measuring instruments. The present study is concerned with one of these instruments, the Seasat A Scatterometer System (SASS). Attention is given to an internal consistency check of the SASS 1 model, comparisons of SASS 1 and other model-predicted winds with in situ winds, and a brief summary of the principal findings. It is found that a new wind retrieval system is required if SASS wind data are to be globally applicable and, at the same time, are to meet the required performance specifications. The sum-of-squares (SOS) technique for inverting SASS NRCS (normalized radar cross section) measurements results in the discarding of valuable data in low-speed areas and for higher incidence angles.

Woiceshyn, P. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

New algorithms for microwave measurements of ocean winds Applications to Seasat and the special sensor microwave imager

Improved second generation wind algorithms are used to process the three month Seasat SMMR and SASS data sets. The new algorithms are derived without using in situ anemometer measurements. All known biases in the sensors prime measurements are removed, and the algorithms prime model functions are internally self-consistent. The computed SMMR and SASS winds are collocated and compared on a 10 km cell-by-cell basis, giving a total of 115444 wind comparisons. The comparisons are done using three different sets of SMMR channels. When the 6.6H SMMR channel is used for wind retrieval, the SMMR and SASS winds agree to within 1.3 m/s over the SASS primary swath. At nadir where the radar cross section is less sensitive to wind, the agreement degrades to 1.9 m/s. The agreement is very good for winds from 0 to 15 m/s. Above 15 m/s, the off-nadir SASS winds are consistently lower than the SMMR winds, while at nadir the high SASS winds are greater than SMMR's. When 10.7H is used for the SMMR wind channel, the SMMR/SASS wind comparisons are not quite as good. When the frequency of the wind channel is increased to 18 GHz, the SMMR/SASS agreement substantially degrades to about 5 m/S.

Wentz, F. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Tropical storm Flossie and the Ark Royal storm

The development of the tropical storm Flossie north of Scotland on September 16-17, 1978 from the Ark Royal storm is described. Land, marine, upper air data, satellite imagery, Seasat scatterometer (SASS) wind data, and SMMR moisture data were utilized to analyze the storms' development. The factors which contributed to the formation of the Ark Royal storm are discussed. Isobaric surface charts, isotachs and streamlines of the SASS winds, and SMMR water vapor contours are provided.

Peteherych, S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Large-scale analysis and forecast experiments with wind data from the Seasat A scatterometer

A series of data assimilation experiments is performed to assess the impact of Seasat A satellite scatterometer (SASS) wind data on Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences (GLAS) model forecasts. The SASS data are dealiased as part of an objective analysis system utilizing a three-pass procedure. The impact of the SASS data is evaluated with and without temperature soundings from the NOAA 4 Vertical Temperature Profile Radiometer (VTPR) instrument in order to study possible redundancy between surface wind data and upper air temperature data. In the northern hemisphere the SASS data are generally found to have a negligible effect on the forecasts. In the southern hemisphere the forecast impact from SASS data is somewhat larger and primarily beneficial in the absence of VTPR data. However, the inclusion of VTPR data effectively eliminates the positive impact over Australia and South America. This indicates that SASS data can be beneficial for numerical weather prediction in regions with large data gaps, but in the presence of satellite soundings the usefulness of SASS data is significantly reduced.

Baker, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A model function for ocean radar cross sections at 14.6 GHz

The relationship between the ocean's normalized radar cross section (NRCS) at 14.6 GHz and the surface wind vector is derived using the 3 months of Seasat microwave scatterometer (SASS) measurements. The derivation is based on the statistics of the SASS observations, and no in situ measurements are required, other than a mean global wind speed, which comes from climatology. The frequency distribution of the global wind vectors observed by SASS is assumed to be a bivariate normal probability function. A NRCS model function is found that maps the assumed wind vector statistics into the observed SASS NRCS statistics. This function is compared with a NRCS model coming from the Joint Air Sea Interaction Experiment (JASIN) and with aircraft scatterometer measurements. The results indicate that the statistically derived NRCS model is an improvement over the JASIN model, which was based on a limited number of in situ anemometer measurements.

Wentz, F. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A new parameterization of an empirical model for wind/ocean scatterometry

The power law form of the SEASAT A Scatterometer System (SASS) empirical backscatter-to-wind model function does not uniformly meet the instrument performance over the range 4 to 24 /ms. Analysis indicates that the horizontal polarization (H-Pol) and vertical polarization (V-Pol) components of the benchmark SASS1 model function yield self-consistent results only for a small mid-range of speeds at larger incidence angles, and for a somewhat larger range of speeds at smaller incidence angles. Comparison of SASS1 to in situ data over the Gulf of Alaska region further underscores the shortcomings of the power law form. Finally, a physically based empirical SASS model is proposed which corrects some of the deficiencies of power law models like SASS1. The new model allows the mutual determination of sea surface wind stress and wind speed in a consistent manner from SASS backscatter measurements.

Woiceshyn, P. M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

New algorithms for microwave measurements of ocean winds

Improved second generation wind algorithms are used to process the three month SEASAT SMMR and SASS data sets. The new algorithms are derived without using in situ anemometer measurements. All known biases in the sensors prime measurements are removed, and the algorithms prime model functions are internally self-consistent. The computed SMMR and SASS winds are collocated and compared on a 150 km cell-by-cell basis, giving a total of 115444 wind comparisons. The comparisons are done using three different sets of SMMR channels. When the 6.6H SMMR channel is used for wind retrieval, the SMMR and SASS winds agree to within 1.3 m/s over the SASS primary swath. At nadir where the radar cross section is less sensitive to wind, the agreement degrades to 1.9 m/s. The agreement is very good for winds from 0 to 15 m/s. Above 15 m/s, the off-nadir SASS winds are consistently lower than the SMMR winds, while at nadir the high SASS winds are greater than SMMR's. When 10.7H is used for the SMMR wind channel, the SMMR/SASS wind comparisons are not quite as good. When the frequency of the wind channel is increased to 18 GHz, the SMMR/SASS agreement substantially degrades to about 5 m/s.

Wentz, F. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The impact of scatterometer wind data on global weather forecasting

The impact of SEASAT-A scatterometer (SASS) winds on coarse resolution atmospheric model forecasts was assessed. The scatterometer provides high resolution winds, but each wind can have up to four possible directions. One wind direction is correct; the remainder are ambiguous or "aliases'. In general, the effect of objectively dealiased-SASS data was found to be negligible in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the impact was larger and primarily beneficial when vertical temperature profile radiometer (VTPR) data was excluded. However, the inclusion of VTPR data eliminates the positive impact, indicating some redundancy between the two data sets.

Atlas, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

First global analysis of SEASAT scatterometer winds and potential for meteorological research

The first global wind fields from SEASAT-A scatterometer (SASS) data were produced. Fifteen days of record are available on tape, with unique wind directions indicated for each observation. The methodology of the production of this data set is described, as well as the testing of its validity. A number of displays of the data, on large and small scales, analyzed and gridded, are provided.

Peteherych, S.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Surface wind analyses for Seasat

During the 99 days of Seasat operation, two large-scale experiments were conducted which established the satellite sensors' wind measuring capabilities: (1) the Gulf of Alaska Experiment (GOASEX), and (2) the Joint Air Sea Interaction Experiment (JASIN), which unlike GOASEX was independent of the Seasat program and undertook comprehensive air and sea investigations which furnished excellent comparison data for Seasat. Qualitative comparison windfields were also provided by several storms. The point measurements in GOASEX and JASIN were averaged in conjunction with Seasat scatterometer regions and, on the basis of comparisons between several anemometers on buoys and meteorological ships and the calculation of various averaging times, a 20-min average yields a scatterometer scale windfield accuracy of up to + or 1 m/sec and + or - 10 deg in well-behaved windfields.

Brown, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Wind direction alias removal studies of Seasat scatterometer-derived wind fields

Seasat SASS fields for the North Atlantic were employed to test if meteorological features were discernible within the Seasat-produced wind fields, and if the features aided in determining a unique wind vector solution. Two groups were formed to work in isolation from each other until a true wind vector field was obtained for each SASS observation. The SASS data covered 1500 km swaths, and the angle of the Seasat antennas relative to the earth was known. Visible and IR data, along with surface weather stations, ship and ship buoy data were also available to the interpreters. Two-vector solutions by the two teams showed almost perfect agreement, and the alias problem was noted to reduce to a selection of two vectors 180 deg apart. Comparisons with the surface measurements in regards to wind directions resulted in agreement to within a standard deviation of 20% for direction. The SASS data is concluded to be useful for producing streamlines, isotachs, and mesoscale as well as cyclone-scale features.

Wurtele, M. G.↗

NASA NTRS1981

High resolution marine meteorological analysis utilizing Seasat data

Seasat scatterometer (SASS) wind data was combined with surface meteorological readings to generate maps of lows, highs, ridges, and fronts. The SASS microwave radar permits all-weather surface wind observations with a 50 km resolution to within 2 m/sec or 10%. The scan area comprised the northern Pacific off the west coast of North America and southward from Alaska. Emphasis was placed on surface pressure analyses alone and in combination with the SASS data. Standard modeling of the existing weather systems was found to be unaltered by addition of the SASS data, although improvements were evident in the accuracy of delineating significant meteorological features and quantifying pressure gradients. Scale eddies and circulations were defined and cols were identified (by low wind speeds).

Peteherych, S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

The winds of the comparison data set for the Seasat Gulf of Alaska Experiment

Ship and data buoy winds used for comparison in the validation of Seasat-derived winds are described in terms of the time series of hourly wind observations from the buoys and in terms of the techniques used to produce 20- and 30-min average winds from the ships. Attention is given to the comparison data, the synoptic scale wind, turbulence concepts, the data buoy winds, Ocean Weather Station PAPA, the oceanographer data, and the results from Ocean Station PAPA Ship Quadra and from the oceanographer. Sources of scatter in the comparison data are reviewed.

Pierson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Surface observations for the evaluation of geophysical measurements from Seasat

The surface observations used for direct comparison with Seasat-derived values at fixed locations and as input to analyzed fields of pressure, wind, air and sea temperatures, and surface dew point are discussed. These included measurements made by research vessels participating in the Gulf of Alaska Seasat Experiment (GOASEX) and NOAA research platforms in addition to aircraft observations and reports from the World Weather Watch. The application of these observations in describing the synoptic-scale winds over the ocean is discussed, and the sensitivity of the verification statistics to the type of data (observations from buoys, weather ships, and transient vessels with or without anemometers) is considered. Results of a preliminary comparison of wind fields derived from Seasat-A scatterometer observation with winds specified by several types of platforms are presented.

Wilkerson, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Seasat scatterometer - Results of the Gulf of Alaska workshop

The Seasat microwave scatterometer was designed to measure, globally and in nearly all weather, wind speed to an accuracy of plus or minus 2 meters per second and wind direction to plus or minus 20 deg in two swaths 500 kilometers wide on either side of the spacecraft. For two operating modes in rain-free conditions, a limited number of comparisons to high-quality surface truth indicates that these specifications may have been met.

Jones, W. L.↗