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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1989

Beaufort-Chukchi Seas summer and fall ice margin data from Seasat - Conditions with similarities to the Labrador Sea

The margin of the sea-ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas is examined using the microwave data from Seasat taken during the summer to early fall, July 4 through October 8, 1978, and the observations are compared to the analogous observations taken in LIMEX'87. The sensors used are synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), the Seasat-A scatterometer system, and the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer. The examination indicates that the ice edge in summer and early fall is compact; that is, in most cases the pack undergoes an abrupt change in ice concentration from zero over open water to a substantial value (over 70 percent) in the marginal ice zone. This change takes place over the space of a few kilometers. Adjacent to the edge there is a zone of intermediate ice concentration 50-100-km wide. In late summer there is a band of ice at the edge which is largely featureless in the 25-m resolution of the Seasat SAR and is taken to be ice cakes with diameters less than 100 m. Eddylike structures seem to be present in the margin on scales from 5-200 km; bands and tadpole streamers are also observable. All three instruments locate the ice edge with varying degrees of precision.

Carsey, Frank D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Seasat over-land scatterometer data. I - Global overview of the Ku-band backscatter coefficients

Statistics on the backscatter coefficient sigma(0) from the Ku-band Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) collected over the world's land surfaces are presented. This spaceborne scatterometer provided data on sigma(0) between latitudes 80 deg S and 80 deg N at incidence angles up to 70 deg. The global statistics of vertical (V) and horizontal (H) polarization backscatter coefficients for 10 deg bands in latitude are presented for incidence angles between 20 deg and 70 deg and compared with the Skylab and ground spectrometer results. Global images of the time-averaged V polarization sigma(0) at a 45 deg incidence angle and its dependence on the incidence angle are presented and compared to a generalized map of the terrain type. Global images of the differences between the V and H polarization backscatter coefficients are presented and discussed. The most inhomogeneous region, which contains the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is studied in greater detail and compared with the terrain type.

Kennett, Rosemary G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Comparison of Seasat scatterometer winds with tropical Pacific observations

The Seasat-A satellite scatterometer (SASS) observed near-surface vector winds over the world ocean from an 800-km orbit by measuring radar backscatter from the wind-roughened surface. To increase the geographical range of SASS and in situ comparison experiments, data from nine islands in the tropical Pacific and contemporaneous scatterometer winds were compared. The SASS-2 algorithm due to Wentz provides clearly better agreement in wind speed than the earlier SASS-1 algorithm. SASS-1 speeds tend to be higher than the island measurements by about 1 m/s, while daily mean SASS-2 minus island wind speed differences average -0.07 m/s. The rms differences between SASS-2 and the daily mean island data average 1.7 m/s, the SASS-1 rms differences average 2.2 m/s.

Davison, Jerry↗
NASA NTRS1989

Construction of surface pressure field from scatterometer wind field

An account of the construction of surface pressure fields from Seasat-A satellite scatterometer (SASS) winds as carried out by different methods, and the comparison of these pressure fields with those derived from in situ ship observations is presented. On the assumption that the pressure adjusts itself instantaneously to the motion field, it may be computed by various methods. One of these makes use of planetary boundary theory, and of the possible techniques in this category a two-layer iterative scheme admitting of the parametrization of diabatic and baroclinic effects and of secondary flow was chosen. A second method involves the assumption of zero two-dimensional divergence, leading to a Laplace's equation (the balance equation) in pressure, with the wind field serving as a forcing function. This method does not accommodate adiabatic or baroclinic effects, and requires a knowledge of the pressure at all boundary points. Two comparison fields are used for validation: the conventional operational analyses of the US National Meteorological Center (NMC), and the special analyses of the Gulf of Alaska Experiment (GOASEX), which were done by hand. The results of the computations were as follows: (1) The pressure fields, as computed from the SASS winds alone, closely approximated the NMC fields in regions where reasonable in situ coverage was available (typically, one or two mb differences over most of the chart, three to four mb in extreme cases); (2) In some cases the SASS-derived pressure fields displayed high-resolution phenomena not detected by the NMC fields, but evident in the GOASEX data; and, (3) As expected, the pressure fields derived from the balance equation were much smoother and less well resolved than the SASS-derived or NMC fields. The divergence as measured from the SASS winds is smaller than, but of the same order of magnitude as, the vorticity.

Wurtele, Morton G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A frontal cyclogenesis case study from Seasat scatterometer data

In June 1978, the Seasat satellite was launched carrying, among other instruments, the Seasat-A scatterometer system (SASS), which produced ambiguous wind speed and direction data at the ocean surface. A fifteen day subset of dealiased wind vector data with the inherent ambiguities removed was produced for the period of September 6-20, 1978. On September 8, SASS began to observe a development of frontal cyclogenesis in the South Pacific off the east coast of New Zealand, in an area of few surface observations. A large mature cyclone contained weak warm and cold fronts and an occlusion with a strong horizontal wind shear. Satellite imagery shows that a strong upper-level jet streak was moving rapidly over the area of the surface frontal occlusion and as the jet passed over this area a new vortex formed. This cyclogenesis event was studied using 50-km resolution scatterometer surface wind data. High-resolution fields of wind vectors, divergence and vorticity are computed and plotted from the scatterometer data to study the structure and development of the newly formed cyclonic vortex, not otherwise possible using conventional observations.

Cunningham, Glenn F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Surface pressure maps from scatterometer data

The ability to determine surface pressure fields from satellite scatterometer data was shown by Brown and Levy (1986). The surface winds are used to calculate the gradient winds above the planetary boundary layer, and these are directly related to the pressure gradients. There are corrections for variable stratification, variable surface roughness, horizontal inhomogeneity, humidity and baroclinity. The Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) data have been used in a systematic study of 50 synoptic weather events (regions of approximately 1000 X 1000 km). The preliminary statistics of agreement with national weather service surface pressure maps are calculated. The resulting surface pressure maps can be used together with SASS winds and Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) water vapor and liquid water analyses to provide good front and storm system analyses.

Brown, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of the impact of Seasat scatterometer data and horizontal resolution on GLA model simulations of the QE II storm

The impact of the Seasat-A satellite scatterometer wind data and the increased horizontal resolution on the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres model predictions of the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) storm of 9-11 September 1978 was evaluated for four different GLA model simulations of the QE II storm. It is shown that the largest impact on the simulation was caused by doubling the model's horizontal resolution from 4 deg x 5 deg to 2 deg x 2.5 deg. The increased resolution resulted in a storm track which was much closer to the one observed, with a much deeper surface development, a stronger mass circulation, stronger heating, and stronger increase of angular momentum.

Lenzen, Allen J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

High-resolution land/ice imaging using Seasat scatterometer measurements

A new method for obtaining high-resolution images (to 4 km) of the land backscatter from low-resolution Seasat-A scatterometer (SASS) measurements is introduced. The method utilizes the measurement cell overlap in multiple spacecraft passes over the region of interest and signal processing techniques to generate high-resolution images of the radar backscatter. The overlap is exploited to estimate the underlying high-resolution surface radar backscatter characteristics using a robust multivariate image reconstruction algorithm. The algorithm has been designed to operate in the high-noise environment typical of scatterometer measurements. The ultimate resolution obtainable is a function of the number of measurements and the measurement overlap. Sample results based on SASS data are provided.

Long, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Resolution enhancement of spaceborne scatterometer data

Spaceborne wind scatterometers are designed principally to measure radar backscatter from the ocean's surface for the determination of the near-surface wind direction and speed. Although measurements of the radar backscatter are made over land, application of these measurements has been limited primarily to the calibration of the instrument. In this paper we present a method for generating enhanced resolution radar images of the earth's surface using spaceborne scatterometry. The technique is based on a new image reconstruction technique which takes advantage of the spatial overlap in scatterometer measurements made at different times to provide enhanced imaging resolution. We describe the reconstruction algorithm and demonstrate the technique using both simulated and actual Seasat-A Scatterometer (SASS) measurements. The SASS-derived images, which have approximately 4 km resolution, dramatically illustrate the resolution enhancement capability of the new technique. The technique permits utilization of both historic and contemporary scatterometer data for medium-scale monitoring of vegetation and polar ice. We discuss the tradeoff between imaging noise and resolution inherent in the technique.

Long, David G.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Seasat--A 25-Year Legacy of Success

Thousands of scientific publications and dozens of textbooks include data from instruments derived from NASA's Seasat. The Seasat mission was launched on June 26, 1978, on an Atlas-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was the first Earth-orbiting satellite to carry four complementary microwave experiments--the Radar Altimeter (ALT) to measure ocean surface topography by measuring spacecraft altitude above the ocean surface; the Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS), to measure wind speed and direction over the ocean; the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) to measure surface wind speed, ocean surface temperature, atmospheric water vapor content, rain rate, and ice coverage; and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), to image the ocean surface, polar ice caps, and coastal regions. While originally designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans, the legacy of Seasat has had a profound impact in many other areas including solid earth science, hydrology, ecology and planetary science.

Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer↗