Ocean Surface Vector Wind, Sea Ice and Soil Moisture Retrieval from Microwave Radiometer Measurements

An iterative physical retrieval algorithm has been developed to retrieve ocean surface wind speed and wind direction from satellite-based microwave radiometer (e.g., WindSat) data. The new algorithm employs a two-scale emissivity model to characterize the emission and scattering properties of wind roughened ocean surfaces. The new algorithm was tested using the Environmental Product VErification and REmote Sensing Testbed (EVEREST), an end-to-end modeling and simulation capability developed by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for assessing system performance and data product quality of current and future environmental satellite systems. A bootstrap sea ice concentration algorithm and a regression based soil moisture algorithm have also been implemented in the testbed. The algorithm performance and its sensitivities were evaluated using both real and synthetic data.