gov.noaa.nodc:SAR-Winds-RCM eng utf8 series NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact HTTPS NOAA Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. information custodian 2026-07-06T20:28:35Z ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) NOAA high resolution sea surface winds data from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites 2024-03-16 publication 2026-07-06 revision 2024-02-22 creation NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information gov.noaa.nodc:SAR-Winds-RCM NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact HTTPS NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. information publisher Hongming Qi NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) hongming.qi@noaa.gov https://ospo.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) website Institution web page information resourceProvider NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) https://ospo.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) website Institution web page information resourceProvider Helfrich, Sean NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) website Institution web page information author Monaldo, Francis M. NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) website Institution web page information author Jackson, Christopher R. NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) website Institution web page information author Ruff, Tyler Global Science & Technology, Inc., under contract to NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research https://www.gst.com/ HTTPS Global Science & Technology, Inc. (GST) website Institution web page information author Qi, Hongming NOAA/NESDIS Office of Satellite and Product Operations hongming.qi@noaa.gov https://ospo.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) website Institution web page information author Wardak, Edrees NOAA/NESDIS Office of Common Services https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/our-offices/office-of-common-services HTTPS NOAA/NESDIS Office of Common Services (OCS) website Institution web page information author Hongming Qi NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) Product Area Leader Oceanographic Products hongming.qi@noaa.gov https://ospo.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) website Institution web page information pointOfContact Francis Monaldo NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) frank.monaldo@noaa.gov https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) website Institution web page information pointOfContact NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/ HTTPS NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) website Institution web page information contributor Canadian Space Agency (CSA) https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/ HTTPS Canadian Space Agency (CSA) website Institution web page information contributor tableDigital This dataset consists of high-resolution sea surface winds data produced from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on board the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites. The basic archive file is a netCDF-4 file containing SAR wind, land mask, and time and earth location information. Images of the SAR wind data in GeoTIFF format are also included. The product covers the geographic extent of the SAR image frame from which it was derived. These 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 is available to the public for a wide variety of uses including scientific research and analysis. onGoing historicalArchive NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact HTTPS NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. information pointOfContact monthly https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:SAR-Winds-RCM Preview graphic PNG 0289529 0290600 0292414 0293529 0294740 0295974 0297014 0298715 0298716 0299649 0300409 0301559 0302269 0303220 0304016 0304889 0305892 0306879 0307726 0308517 0309252 0310449 0311351 0312257 0313056 0313935 0314719 0315603 0316499 NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER 2026-06-01 publication WIND SPEED theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS SAR instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS satellite data theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS RCM-1 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) RCM-2 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) RCM-3 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) platform NODC PLATFORM NAMES THESAURUS Canadian Space Agency NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research dataCentre NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations dataCentre NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS World-Wide Distribution place NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS oceanography theme WMO_CategoryCode 2012-09-15 publication DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/OSPO > Office of Satellite and Product Operations, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/STAR > Center for Satellite Applications and Research, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce dataCentre Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords 2026 revision 24 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords HTTPS GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS > WIND SPEED theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords 2026 revision 24 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords HTTPS GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian latitude longitude time wind_speed theme NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Convention Standard Names SAR > Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords 2026 revision 24 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords HTTPS GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian RCM-1 RCM-2 RCM-3 platform Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords 2026 revision 24 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords HTTPS GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL OCEAN place Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords 2026 revision 24 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords HTTPS GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian accessLevel: public otherRestrictions Cite as: Helfrich, Sean; Monaldo, Francis M.; Jackson, Christopher R.; Ruff, Tyler; Qi, Hongming; Wardak, Edrees (2024). NOAA high resolution sea surface winds data from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/SAR-Winds-RCM. Accessed [date]. Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives. otherRestrictions 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. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document For Retrieval of Winds from Synthetic Aperture Radar 2012-04-02 publication Frank Monaldo author National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) https://www.noaa.gov/ HTTPS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website Institution web page information publisher documentHardcopy crossReference sciencePaper Liu, G., Yang, X., Li, X., Zhang, B., Pichel, W., Li, Z., & Zhou, X. (2013). A Systematic Comparison of the Effect of Polarization Ratio Models on Sea Surface Wind Retrieval From C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 6(3), 1100–1108. https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2013.2242848 2013-06 publication International DOI Foundation (IDF) https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2013.2242848 https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2013.2242848 HTTPS https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2013.2242848 Journal article. information Liu, Guihong author Yang, Xiaofeng author Li, Xiaofeng author Zhang, Biao author Pichel, William author Li, Ziwei author Zhou, Xuan author Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) publisher documentDigital IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Observations Remote Sensing 6(3) ISSN 1939-1404, ISSN 2151-1535, pp. 1100-1108 crossReference sciencePaper Zhang, B., Perrie, W., Vachon, P. W., Li, X., Pichel, W. G., Guo, J., & He, Y. (2012). Ocean Vector Winds Retrieval From C-Band Fully Polarimetric SAR Measurements. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 50(11), 4252–4261. https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2012.2194157 2012-11 publication International DOI Foundation (IDF) https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2012.2194157 https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2012.2194157 HTTPS https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2012.2194157 Journal article information Zhang, Biao author Perrie, William author Vachon, Paris W. author Li, Xiaofeng author Pichel, William G. author Guo, Jie author He, Yijun author Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) publisher documentDigital IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing 50(11) ISSN 0196-2892, ISSN 1558-0644, pp. 4252-4261 crossReference sciencePaper Qi, Hongming; NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (2024). Documentation for NOAA Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) High Resolution Coastal Winds products (NCEI Accession 0289529). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0289529. In Helfrich, Sean; Monaldo, Francis M.; Jackson, Christopher R.; Ruff, Tyler; Qi, Hongming; Wardak, Edrees (2024). NOAA high resolution sea surface winds data from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/SAR-Winds-RCM. 2024-03-16 publication NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information gov.noaa.nodc:0289529 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0289529 HTTPS https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0289529 Product documentation information Qi, Hongming NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) hongming.qi@noaa.gov https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/our-offices/office-of-common-services HTTPS NOAA/NESDIS Office of Common Services (OCS) website Institution web page information author NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/our-offices/office-of-common-services HTTPS NOAA/NESDIS Office of Common Services (OCS) website Institution web page information author NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) publisher documentDigital crossReference eng; USA utf8 environment oceans climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere -180 180 -90 90 2007-12-14 Individual SAR images with wind data at a resolution of 0.5 km are obtained from Alaska waters and the North Pacific covering the region: 179.0E to -179.0W, 75.0N to 40.0N. Some coverage has been obtained over Hawaii, the coasts of Maryland, Delaware, and the northern gulf of Mexico. SAR products support the following mission/projects: Weather and Water, Ecosystems, Commerce and Transportation, hazard monitoring and response, CoastWatch, the National Ice Center, the Office of Response and Restoration Emergency Response Division, and other NOAA offices. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information +1-301-713-3277 ncei.info@noaa.gov pointOfContact In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media. Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. netCDF netCDF-4 classic model NCEI_NETCDF_Grid_Template_v1.1, ACDD-1.3, CF-1.5 GeoTIFF 1590222.876 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/SAR-Winds-RCM HTTPS Web browser NCEI Dataset Landing Page Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links. information https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/granule/geoportal/?from=0&size=10&esdsl=%7B%22query%22%3A%7B%22bool%22%3A%7B%22must%22%3A%5B%7B%22query_string%22%3A%7B%22analyze_wildcard%22%3Atrue%2C%22query%22%3A%22fileid%3ASAR-Winds-RCM.*%22%7D%7D%5D%7D%7D%7D#searchPanel HTTPS Web browser Granule Search Search for data granules belonging to this collection (a granule is the smallest aggregation of data that can be independently described and retrieved). search https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/thredds-ocean/catalog/sar-winds/rcm/catalog.html THREDDS Web browsers can browse THREDDS Data Servers and specialized THREDDS software can enable more sophisticated data access and visualizations. THREDDS These data are available through a variety of services via a THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS). Depending on the dataset, the TDS can provide WMS, WCS, DAP, HTTP, and other data access and metadata services as well. For more information on the TDS, see http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/thredds/current/tds/. download https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/sar-winds/rcm/ HTTPS Web browser HTTPS Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download. download ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/sar-winds/rcm/ FTP Any FTP client FTP These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP). download series NCEI Accession 0289529 v1.1 was published. 2024-03-16T00:51:59Z NCEI Accession 0290600 v1.1 was published. 2024-04-05T23:57:13Z NCEI Accession 0292414 v1.1 was published. 2024-05-06T16:52:54Z NCEI Accession 0293529 v1.1 was published. 2024-06-05T18:19:44Z NCEI Accession 0294740 v1.1 was published. 2024-07-05T17:06:31Z NCEI Accession 0295974 v1.1 was published. 2024-08-05T17:57:45Z NCEI Accession 0297014 v1.1 was published. 2024-09-05T17:54:17Z NCEI Accession 0298715 v1.1 was published. 2024-11-06T13:56:43Z NCEI Accession 0298716 v1.1 was published. 2024-11-06T15:32:19Z NCEI Accession 0299649 v1.1 was published. 2024-12-05T15:10:33Z NCEI Accession 0298715 was revised and v2.2 was published. 2024-12-23T21:18:12Z NCEI Accession 0300409 v1.1 was published. 2025-01-05T15:07:07Z NCEI Accession 0301559 v1.1 was published. 2025-02-05T14:21:55Z NCEI Accession 0302269 v1.1 was published. 2025-03-05T14:16:12Z NCEI Accession 0303220 v1.1 was published. 2025-04-05T14:44:09Z NCEI Accession 0304016 v1.1 was published. 2025-05-05T14:45:14Z NCEI Accession 0304889 v1.1 was published. 2025-06-05T14:53:20Z NCEI Accession 0305892 v1.1 was published. 2025-07-05T14:58:41Z NCEI Accession 0306879 v1.1 was published. 2025-08-05T15:43:53Z NCEI Accession 0307726 v1.1 was published. 2025-09-06T15:20:57Z NCEI Accession 0308517 v1.1 was published. 2025-10-06T15:21:31Z NCEI Accession 0309252 v1.1 was published. 2025-11-05T15:43:12Z NCEI Accession 0310449 v1.1 was published. 2025-12-05T20:41:14Z NCEI Accession 0311351 v1.1 was published. 2026-01-05T14:47:33Z NCEI Accession 0312257 v1.1 was published. 2026-02-05T14:48:27Z NCEI Accession 0313056 v1.1 was published. 2026-03-05T15:01:22Z NCEI Accession 0313935 v1.1 was published. 2026-04-05T14:58:51Z NCEI Accession 0314719 v1.1 was published. 2026-05-05T14:51:49Z NCEI Accession 0315603 v1.1 was published. 2026-06-05T22:42:31Z NCEI Accession 0316499 v1.1 was published. 2026-07-06T19:41:14Z asNeeded Metadata are developed, maintained and distributed by NCEI. Updates are performed as needed to maintain currentness. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information custodian SAR SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar which is used to create images of an object, such as a landscape – these images can be 2D or 3D representations of the object. SAR uses the motion of the SAR antenna over a target region to provide finer spatial resolution than is possible with conventional beam-scanning radars. The distance the SAR device travels over a target creates a large "synthetic" antenna aperture (the "size" of the antenna). As a rule of thumb one can assume that the larger the aperture is, the higher the image resolution becomes, regardless whether physical aperture or synthetic aperture – this allows SAR to create high resolution images with comparatively small physical antennas.Many satellites have SAR imagery capabilities using different microwave bands (L,C,S,X etc.). Additional Information: http://www.radartutorial.eu/20.airborne/ab07.en.html http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/SAR_missions GCMD Instrument Keyword - "Earth Remote Sensing Instruments","Active Remote Sensing","Imaging Radars","","SAR","Synthetic Aperture Radar" RCM-1 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) Name: RCM-1 Country: Canada Platform Class: 65-Orbiting satellite (polar) Synonyms: RADARSAT Constellation Mission Commissioned Date: 2019-06-12 Instrument payload: SAR RCM - Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band) for RadarSat constellation AIS - Automated Identification System Notes: Needed for SAR Winds RCM data archival Info Source: https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satelliteprogrammes/view/rcm https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/rcm_1 https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/rcm RCM-2 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) Name: RCM-2 Country: Canada Platform Class: 65-Orbiting satellite (polar) Synonyms: RADARSAT Constellation Mission Commissioned Date: 2019-06-12 Instrument payload: SAR RCM - Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band) for RadarSat constellation AIS - Automated Identification System Info Source: https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satelliteprogrammes/view/rcm https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/rcm_2 https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/rcm RCM-3 (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) Name: RCM-3 Country: Canada Platform Class: 65-Orbiting satellite (polar) Synonyms: RADARSAT Constellation Mission Commissioned Date: 2019-06-12 Instrument payload: SAR RCM - Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band) for RadarSat constellation AIS - Automated Identification System Notes: Needed for SAR Winds RCM data archival Info Source: https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satelliteprogrammes/view/rcm https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/rcm_3