FEASIBILITY OF A C-BAND SCATTEROMETER TO REMOTELY SENSE HURRICANE PARAMETERS

RESEARCH AIMED AT IMPROVING NOAA'S MEASUREMENTS OF HURRICANESURFACE WINDS. WE SPECIFICALLY PROPOSE TO DESIGN A MICROWAVE SCATTEROMETER THAT CAN BE USED TO MEASURE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION FROM RADAR ECHOS SCATTERED FROM THE OCEAN SURFACE. WE PLAN TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A SPINNING MICROSTRIP ARRAY MOUNTED ON THE BELLY OF THE NOAA P-3 HURRICANE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT. THE PROPOSED ARRAY DETECTS RADAR BACKSCATTER AS A FUNCTION OF AZIMUTH ANGLE AND THEREFORE MEASURES WIND DIRECTION FROM THEANISOTROPY OF THE OCEAN SURFACE REFLECTANCE. WIND SPEED CANNOW BE MEASURED TO WITHIN 1.5 MS(-1) ACCURACY WITH A STEPPED-FREQUENCY MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (SFMR). THE PROPOSEDSCATTEROMETER WILL ADD WIND DIRECTION AND IMAGING TO NOAA'S EXISTING HURRICANE REMOTE SENSING CAPABILITIES. QUADRANT ENGINEERING WILL DELIVER A SCATTEROMETER SENSOR DESIGN AT THE CONCLUSION OF PHASE 1 AND WILL PROPOSE TO BUILD A SENSOR SYSTEM DURING PHASE 2 THAT CAN BE INSTALLED ON THE NOAA AIRCRAFT.