Data Archive for Zhang, et al., “A Geophysical Model Function for S-band Reflectometry of Ocean Surface Winds in Tropical Cyclones,” accepted to Geophysical Research Letters

This is the data Archive for Zhang, et al., “A Geophysical Model Function for S-band Reflectometry of Ocean Surface Winds in Tropical Cyclones,” accepted by Geophysical Research Letters. This data set was generated from twelve (12) days of airborne S-band (2.3 GHz) reflectometry data collected during the 2014 hurricane season between 2 July 2014 and 17 September 2014. Cross-correlations between the direct and reflected S-band signals, commonly referred to as the “waveform” or delay-Doppler map (DDM) are provided with corresponding aircraft time and position data. An empirical model function, relating the sensed ocean surface mean square slope (MSS) to wind speed was then developed by fitting MSS estimates to comparison wind speed data from the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) on the same aircraft.  This model function was applied for wind speed retrievals using an independent set of reflectometry measurements and validated against four (4) data sources:  SFMR, HWFR, dropsondes, and flight-level winds.  Estimated MSS and wind speeds are provided for both the training (calibration) and validation sets. Please refer to the GRL paper for more details.  Figure numbers in the documentation refer to this paper.