SeaWinds scatterometer instrument using a pulse compression radar

Chi Wu; James E. Graf; Michael W. Spencer; Carroll Winn

doi:10.1117/12.298100

31 December 1997 SeaWinds scatterometer instrument using a pulse compression radar

Chi Wu, James E. Graf, Michael W. Spencer, Carroll Winn

Proceedings Volume 3221, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.298100
Event: Aerospace Remote Sensing '97, 1997, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

The SeaWinds scatterometer instrument is currently being developed by NASA/JPL, as a part of the NASA EOS program, for flight on the Japanese ADEOS II mission in 1999. This Ku-and radar scatterometer will infer sea surface wind speed and direction by detecting the normalized radar backscatter cross section over several different azimuth angles. This paper presents the design characteristics of and operational approach to the instrument itself. The SeaWinds pencil-beam- antenna conical-scan design is a departure from the fixed fan- beam antennas of SASS and NSCAT. The purpose of this change is to develop a more compact design consistent with the resource constraints of the ADEOS II spacecraft. The SeaWinds conical- scan arrangement has a 1-m reflector dish antenna that produces a time-shared dual antenna beam at 40 degrees and 46 degrees look angles. The dual-beam operation provides up to four azimuth look directions for each wind measurement cell. At an orbit height of 803 km, the conical scan provides a broad and contiguous wind measurement swath width of about 1800 km for each orbital pass. The radar has a linear frequency modulation, or chirp, encoded transmitter waveform. The bandwidth of modulation is nominally 375 kHz. For each transmitted pulse, an onboard pulse compression processor will produce 12 measurement cells of 6-km resolution in range and about 26 km in azimuth (cross-track). Key specifications of the SeaWinds instrument and associated trade-offs and performance are described.

Citation Download Citation

Chi Wu, James E. Graf, Michael W. Spencer, and Carroll Winn "SeaWinds scatterometer instrument using a pulse compression radar", Proc. SPIE 3221, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites, (31 December 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.298100

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