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Wind Products


Operational Products

High Density IR Cloud Drift Winds

Sample GOES IR Winds

Product shows the wind vector, consisting of speed and direction, at an assigned height (100-400 mb, 400-700 mb, and below 700 mb) above the Earth's surface based on the infrared energy signatures and guidance from corresponding numerical weather forecast parameters. It is generated from geostationary satellites using Imager data in hemispheric and mercator projections by tracking features in the infrared window channel data.

Coverage:
GOES Imager - 70N to 70S
MODIS - both North and South Poles

Product Link

GOES Resolution: 60 Km Frequency: 3 Hours
MODIS Resolution: 30 Km Frequency: 2 Hours

High Density Visible Winds

Sample GOES Visible Winds

Product shows the wind vector, consisting of speed and direction, at an assigned height (600-800 mb and 801-950 mb) above the Earth's surface based on energy signatures and guidance from corresponding numerical weather forecast parameters. It is generated from geostationary satellites using Imager data and derived by tracking features in the visible channel data.

Coverage:
GOES Imager - 70N to 70S

Product Link

GOES Resolution: 30 Km Frequency: 3 Hours

High Density Water Vapor Winds

Sample GOES Water Vapor Winds

Product shows the wind vector, consisting of speed and direction, at an assigned height (100-250 mb, 250-350 mb, and 350-550 mb) above the Earth's surface based on energy signatures and guidance from corresponding numerical weather forecast parameters.

Coverage:
GOES Imager - 70N to 70S
GOES Sounder - CONUS with the adjacent Ocean (channels 10 and 11)
MODIS - both North and South Poles

Product Link

GOES (Imager) Resolution: 60 Km Frequency: 3 Hours
GOES (Sounder) Resolution: 70 Km Frequency: 3 Hours
MODIS Resolution: 30 Km Frequency: 2 Hours


Ocean Surface Winds

Jason-2 Winds

Sample Wind

Jason-2 wind speeds are estimated from the shape and intensity of the altimeter radar echo, representing ~2-5 km footprint depending on sea state, to within 1.6 meters/second.

Product Information Handbook Link (PDF 1.13 Mb)
OSTM/Jason-2 Resolution:
~300 m along track (20 Hz)
~7 km along track (1 Hz)
Frequency: 10-14 times each day

QuikSCAT Winds

Sample Quickscat Image

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. Two resolutions are available, Standard (25 Km) and High (12.5 Km)

Product Link
Related Links:
NASA/JPL/QuikSCAT
NASA/GSFC/EOS/Terra
NASA/GSFC/EOS/Aqua
POES Resolution: 12.5 - 25 Km Frequency: Twice per Day

Wind Speed (SSM/I)

Sample SSM/I Winds Image

Product shows wind speed over oceans. The wind speed is derived from the passive microwave sensor SSM/I, which has 7 channels of 19 GHz (H, V), 22 GHz (V), 37 GHz (H, V), and 85 GHz (H, V), where H is the horizontal polarization, V is the vertical polarization. The wind speed has accuracy of 0.1 m/s. The product is updated once per day at 4 am EST.

This product is originally generated by Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC). NOAA/NESDIS gets the product through an interagency program referred to as the Shared Processing Program in which NOAA, the US Air Force and US Navy participate. OSDPD converts the product into HDF-EOS and WMO BUFR formats and distributed to users.

Product Link
POES Resolution: 25 Km Frequency: Daily

 



 
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