Wind information for marine weather forecasting from RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar data: Initial results from the "Marine winds from SAR" demonstration project

Abstract

The Canadian Ice Service (CIS), part of Environment Canada's Meteorological Service of Canada, has been a primary user of RADARSAT-1 data since its launch in November 1995. Approximately 4000 RADARSAT-1 images are received annually for ice reconnaissance work, but the appearance of dramatic atmospheric conditions imprinted on the open water of oceans and lakes has increased interest in using this data for other marine and meteorological applications. To exploit the CIS operational RADARSAT-1 data stream, a demonstration project was initiated for the winter of 2001 to deliver RADARSAT-1 ScanSAR images and derived wind products to meteorological centres in the East Coast and Great Lakes regions of Canada. Meteorologists were trained in interpreting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and how wind products are generated from SAR data. From January to April 2001, over 600 images and wind products were delivered in near real time to weather centres for use in forecast production. Feedback from meteorologists in the use of RADARSAT-1 for weather applications was positive, especially for site-specific weather forecasting in regions such as coastal or marginal ice zones, lakes, and estuaries in which scatterometer land contamination is an issue and data from other sources are sparse. Additionally, initial validations of the ocean monitoring workstation (OMW) wind products have shown promising results.