Instrument: Quick Scatterometer

Dataset: 
QuikSCAT Sigma-0 Gas Transfer Velocities
Instrument: 
Quick Scatterometer
Instrument Short Name: QuikSCAT
Community Standard Description
(http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/305/)
Instrument Description:

The QuikSCAT is a polar orbiting satellite with an 1800 km wide measurement swath on the earth's surface. Generally, this results in twice per day coverage over a given geographic region. This specialized microwave radar measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. Wind retrievals are done on a 25km x 25km spatial scale.

PI supplied instrument name: Quick Scatterometer
Dataset-specific description

An empirical relationship between normalized radar backscatter (sigma-naught) and mean square slope
is used in a field determined quadratic relationship between mean square slope and gas transfer velocity.
QuikSCAT scatterometer sigma-naughts are obtained from a 13.4 GHz twin beam radar that scans the
surface in a circular motion at 18 rpm. Reflected signals are binned into 25 km wind vector cells with a
cross-track width of 1,800 km at the satellite's nominal altitude of 803 km.