Abstract
The first Chinese operational Ku-band scatterometer on board Haiyang-2A (HY-2A), launched in August 2011, is designed for monitoring the global ocean surface wind. This study estimates the quality of the near-real-time (NRT) retrieval wind speed and wind direction from the HY-2A scatterometer for 36 months from 2012 to 2014. We employed three types of sea-surface wind data from oceanic moored buoys operated by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and the Tropical Atmospheric Ocean project (TAO), the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) reanalysis data (ERA-Interim), and the advanced scatterometer (ASCAT) to calculate the error statistics including mean bias, root mean square error (RMSE), and standard deviation. In addition, the rain effects on the retrieval winds were investigated using collocated Climate Prediction Center morphing method (CMORPH) precipitation data. All data were collocated with the HY-2A scatterometer wind data for comparison. The quality performances of the HY-2A NRT wind vectors data (especially the wind speeds) were satisfactory throughout the service period. The RMSEs of the HY-2A wind speeds relative to the NDBC, TAO, ERA-Interim, and ASCAT data were 1.94, 1.73, 2.25, and 1.62 m·s−1, respectively. The corresponding RMSEs of the wind direction were 46.63°, 43.11°, 39.93°, and 47.47°, respectively. The HY-2A scatterometer overestimated low wind speeds, especially under rainy conditions. Rain exerted a diminishing effect on the wind speed retrievals with increasing wind speed, but its effect on wind direction was robust at low and moderate wind speeds. Relative to the TAO buoy data, the RMSEs without rain effect were reduced to 1.2 m·s−1 and 39.68° for the wind speed direction, respectively, regardless of wind speed. By investigating the objective laws between rain and the retrieval winds from HY-2A, we could improve the quality of wind retrievals through future studies.
Highlights
Ocean surface wind vectors play an important role in the development of sea waves, currents, and water mass activities
To improve and further apply the operational ocean forecasts, we comprehensively evaluate the quality of the HY-2A
All of the Tropical Atmospheric Ocean project (TAO) moored buoys are located near the equatorial Pacific
Summary
Ocean surface wind vectors play an important role in the development of sea waves, currents, and water mass activities. They affect the evolution of sea surface temperatures, monsoons, ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation), and other phenomena. Haiyang-2A (HY-2A), launched in August 2011 [2], monitors global ocean environment parameters such as sea-surface winds, ocean waves and currents [3]. Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS) and carries four sensors: a microwave scatterometer (SCAT), a dual-frequency (Ku- and C-band) radar altimeter, a scanning microwave radiometer, and a three-frequency microwave radiometer [2,4]. The HY-2A SCAT (H2SCAT) is the first Chinese operational instrument since the first experimental
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