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CFOSAT 50 km wind vectors

Discontinued Archived NRT product

Near-real time level 2 ocean wind vectors on a 50 km swath grid, based on the backscatter measurements of the Chinese/French CFOSAT/RFSCAT (Rotating Fanbeam Scatterometer).

Identification
Acronym : CFOSAT50
OSI SAF producer : Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Identifier : OSI-106-b
Characteristics
Processing level : L2
Satellite input : CFOSAT/ RFSCAT
Other input : NWP outputs (wind, SST, land-sea mask)
Temporal sampling : Continuous
Timeliness : ? The timeliness is the time elapsing from the sensing time of the last contributing file to the product dissemination to users. It is similar to the latency. 3 h
Spatial coverage : Global
Spatial sampling : 50 km
Projection : Swath
File Formats : WIND FTP Server (BUFR), WIND FTP Server (NetCDF3), EDC (BUFR), EDC (NetCDF3), EUMETCast (BUFR)
Characteristics & methods : Swath sigma0’s and wind vectors
Data Access
Accuracy Requirements
Target accuracy : Better than 2 m/s in wind component Stdev with an absolute mean difference of less than 0.5 m/s in wind speed on a monthly basis.
Verification/validation method : Triple collocation with NWP and buoys
Applications and users
Usage : * Operational Met Services
* Operational analyses and ocean models
* Research or Environmental monitoring.
Comments
  • Unfortunately, the antenna spinning mechanism of the CFOSAT scatterometer stopped working completely and no useful winds can be retrieved any more. The near-real time development wind products (OSI-106-a/b) have been discontinued.

    See also OSI-106-a (CFOSAT 25 km wind vectors)

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