Scatterometers and altimeters provide a variety of space-based observations that are useful for marine analysis and forecasting as well as other applications. Key among the products are ocean surface winds from scatterometers and significant wave heights from altimeters. This lesson describes the basics of scatterometers and altimeters, including how they work, what they measure, and how scatterometer winds and altimeter significant wave heights are derived. It then discusses some of the challenges in using the estimates, such as dealing with ambiguities and rain contamination. The lesson also provides various opportunities to interpret the data, both in the main sections and the case studies.
Briefly describe how scatterometer and altimeter measurements and data products are useful in marine analysis
Briefly describe the underlying technology of scatterometers and altimeters
Briefly describe the scatterometer and altimeter product estimation process, including the geophysical quantities that are estimated and how the estimation is done
For scatterometer winds, briefly describe the associated ambiguity and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) products
For scatterometer winds, briefly describe the effects of measurement geometry and rain on product uncertainty
Use scatterometer and altimeter products along with MLE and Ambiguity products to analyse the marine wind and wave environment, taking into account various limitations and sources of contamination
Use altimeter significant wave height data to evaluate NWP wave analyses and forecasts
20-Aug-2015: fixed several typos in text and fixed number of 'correct' responses in one quiz question (no text was altered, only which responses should have been marked correct; two instead of one).
Support Form
Please inform us of any problem that you are having by visiting our Support Form.
In order to better serve our users and sponsors, access to our online materials requires registration. To learn more about registering or to get help with common questions about our site, please visit our FAQs.
Most of the material made available on MetEd is free for non-commercial, educational use. We encourage you to use our material to enhance your education and training efforts. To review the legal-speak with all the nitty gritty details, see our Legal Notices page.