Enhanced resolution C-band sigma-0 images of the earth 1992-2001

Images of sigma0 at 40 deg incidence angle (A) in dB and the slope of sigma0 versus incidence angle (B) in dB/deg, along with auxilary parameters, are available. As the first C-band wind scatterometers ERS-1 and ERS-2 helped ] demonstrated the utility of scatterometer data in land and ice studies. The spatial resolution of the original sigma0 measurements is nominally 50 km resolution on a 25 km equally-space grid over a 500 km swath.

Originally developed to measure winds over the ocean from space, scatterometer data has proved to be very useful in a variety of studies including polar ice and tropical vegetation. In particular, scatterometer measurements have demonstrated utility in monitoring melting in Greenland, a leading indicator of global warming. Because the scatterometer radar signal can penetrate the surface, a scatterometer can resolve subsurface limate related features in snow pack.

For more information link to the Scatterometer Climate Record Pathfinder (SCP) at URL "scp.byu.edu/" With their rapid global coverage, day or night and all-weather operation, scatterometers offer a unique tools for long-term climate studies. The goal of the SCP is to provide scatterometer-based datasets to researchers involved in climate studies.