BackForwardInstrument:  WindRAD 

Instrument details
Acronym WindRAD
Full name Wind Radar
Purpose Sea surface wind, surface soil moisture
Short description
  • Two frequencies, C-band (5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (13.265 GHz). Four antennas with HH and VV for both frequencies. Each pixel illuminated under several viewing angles. Minimum detectable windspeed 3 m/s.
  • Calibration monitoring here
Background

New development
Scanning Technique

Conical scanning with incidence angles 36-45° (C-band) and 37-43° (Ku-band). Swath > 1200 km.
Resolution C-band: 25 km, Ku-band: 10 km
Coverage / Cycle Near-global coverage each day.
Mass Power 265 W Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CMA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 2021 to 2035
Last update: 2024-09-09
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Active and radio-occultation sensor
  • Scatterometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Scatterometers [in SSO]
  • Scatterometer [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Wind speed (near surface)
  • Wind vector (near surface)
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Biomass3 - highIndex only.. Coarse spatial resolution.Derived from differential effect of vegetation on C-band and Ku-band
Leaf Area Index (LAI)2 - very highCoarse spatial resolution.C- and Ku- band scatterometr sensitive to LAI
Sea-ice type1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Scatterometer, C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz). Type interpreted as age/roughness
Snow cover3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.. Thick snow only.Scatterometer in C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz)
Snow status (wet/dry)3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.. Thick snow only.Scatterometer in C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz)
Snow water equivalent5 - marginalCoarse spatial resolution.. Ground stations network needed.Scatterometer in C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz)
Soil moisture (in the roots region)3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.Scatterometer in C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz). Assimilation process required
Soil moisture at surface3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.Scatterometer in C-band (around 5.3 GHz) and Ku-band (around 13.3 GHz) to correct vegetation impact
Wind speed (near surface)*1 - primaryOver sea only.C- and Ku-band scatterometer around 5.3 and 13.3 GHz
Wind vector (near surface)*1 - primaryOver sea only.C- and Ku-band scatterometer around 5.3 and 13.3 GHz