WINDSAT

Project Description

WINDSAT is a joint IPO/DoD/NASA risk reduction demonstration project intended to measure ocean surface wind speed and wind direction from space using a polarimetric radiometer. Launched by an Air Force Titan II rocket into a 830-km 98.7-degree orbit, it is designed for a three-year lifetime.

Coriolis/WINDSAT Weather Satellite was successfully launched at 6:19 a.m. Monday, January 6th 2003.

WINDSAT/Coriolis is an interagency cooperation success story. The Naval Research Lab, with cooperation from NASA, the Air Force, and the IPO, is demonstrating the concept of polarimetric radiometry to measure ocean surface wind speed and wind direction by modifying a space test program satellite bus for the WindSat/Coriolis payload. The WindSat/Coriolis mission will measure the ocean surface wind field at a horizontal resolution of 25 km using a 1.9-m diameter reflector that is almost three times as large as the antenna on the DMSP Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMIS).

Capability/Improvements

Secondary Measurements

• Sea surface temperature
• soil moisture
• rain rate
• ice and snow characteristics
• water vapor

Information about WINDSAT is available at: http://www.nrl.navy.mil/WindSat/index.php.