MetOp-A ASCAT Ocean Surface Wind Vectors at 25 km Resolution

Operational near-real-time Level 2 ocean surface wind vector retrievals from the Advanced Scatterometer aboard the MetOp-A satellite. The product is generated by the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility and distributed via the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Data is provided in netCDF format with a latency of approximately 2 hours from measurement.

Use Cases

• Assimilating wind vector retrievals into numerical weather prediction models to improve forecast accuracy.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of wind speed and direction over the global ocean for climate studies.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite-based or model-derived wind products using the ASCAT measurements.
• Studying extreme wind events like storms by examining the time-series of retrieved wind vectors along satellite swaths.

Strengths

• Near-real-time data with approximately 2-hour latency from the latest measurement.
• Global coverage provided by the MetOp-A satellite's sun-synchronous polar orbit.
• Data processed using the CMOD7.n geophysical model function with spatial averaging for consistency.

Limitations

• Effective spatial resolution is 50 km despite a 25 km sampling grid, limiting fine-scale feature detection.
• Data availability and continuity depend on the operational status of the aging MetOp-A platform.
• Specific sample size, temporal range, and update frequency for the archived collection are not provided.

Provenance

Source

European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility via Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.

Collection Method

Retrieved from the Advanced Scatterometer instrument on the MetOp-A satellite, processed using the CMOD7.n geophysical model function on Level 1B backscatter data.

Freshness

Data is operational and near-real-time; the platform record was last updated in November 2021.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.