Impact of the dual-frequency scatterometer on NOAA operations

In an effort to establish an operational ocean surface vector wind satellite capability, NOAA has been exploring the possibility of flying a U.S. scatterometer on board the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) satellite series. The Dual Frequency Scatterometer (DFS) has been designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and proposed as a baseline scatterometer onboard the GCOM-W2 satellite. This study documents the impact that the DFS instrument will have on different National Weather Service (NWS) weather forecasting and warning products and services. With a 50% improvement in the accuracy of wind estimates in high wind regimes, a 20% improvement in resolution and its ability to see through rain, DFS will address NWS's operational OSVW requirements significantly better than a QuikSCAT-like instrument. It is expected that DFS data will have a medium to high impact for all marine weather and tropical cyclone analysis and warning applications, real time diagnostics and climatological wind applications for which wind data are necessary.