Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • NOAA high resolution sea surface winds data from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the RADARSAT-2 satellite

    Metadata Updated: December 1, 2023

    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived high resolution wind products are calculated from high resolution SAR images of normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the Earth's surface. Backscattered microwave radar returns from the ocean surface are strongly dependent on wind speed and direction. When no wind is present, the surface of the water is smooth, almost glass-like. Radar energy will largely be reflected away and the radar cross section will be low. As the wind begins to blow, the surface roughens and surface waves begin to develop. As the wind continues to blow more strongly, the amplitude of the wave increases, thus, roughening the surface more. As the surface roughness increases, more energy is backscattered and NRCS increases. Moreover, careful examination of the wind-generated waves reveals that these surface wave crests are generally aligned perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction, suggesting a dependence of backscatter on the relative direction between the incident radar energy and the wind direction. This dataset consists of high resolution sea surface winds data derived from SAR on-board RADARSAT-2 satellite. The basic archive file is a NetCDF4 file containing SAR wind, a land mask, and time and earth location information. Also archived are the maps of the SAR wind in GeoTIFF format. The product utilizes the CoastWatch product format and covers the geographic extent of the SAR image frame from which it was derived.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2023-10-27T17:53:21Z
    Metadata Created Date December 1, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date December 1, 2023
    Reference Date(s) May 7, 2015 (publication), October 6, 2023 (revision)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Series
    Metadata Date 2023-10-27T17:53:21Z
    Metadata Created Date December 1, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date December 1, 2023
    Reference Date(s) May 7, 2015 (publication), October 6, 2023 (revision)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:SAR-Winds-RADARSAT2
    Access Constraints Cite as: Pichel, William G.; Monaldo, Francis M.; Jackson, Christopher R.; Sapper, John; Hatteberg, Rachel (2015). NOAA high resolution sea surface winds data from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the RADARSAT-2 satellite. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.7289/v5m906ns. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long 180
    Bbox North Lat 90
    Bbox South Lat -90
    Bbox West Long -180
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:SAR-Winds-RADARSAT2
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id b1c07867-5c94-4fa3-b191-6fad06df7014
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
    Progress onGoing
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2014-05-02

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.