A comparison of SEASAT scatterometer-derived winds with JASIN surface winds

This paper compares nearly 3000 wind-vector estimates derived from the scatterometer on SEASAT-A with in situ observations made by ships and buoys during the JASIN experiment. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, have reprocessed the satellite wind data with the latest available algorithms using a subset of the JASIN observations; this comparison uses data from 132 SEASAT passes over the whole 62 days of JASIN. For winds between 4 and 18 m/s, the satellite accuracy was 1·7 m/s in speed and 17° in direction, well within the design goal of 2 m/s and 20°. Further analysis dividing the data according to the value of various parameters, such as polarization or swath position, shows that the design criteria were met in nearly all these subcategories