Spaceborne scatterometers have been providing continuous coverage of the Earth for over a decade. Although scatterometers were originally designed to measure ocean winds, they are also useful for several cryospheric studies. The daily global coverage of scatterometer data in the polar regions allows large-scale observations of sea ice, ice sheets, and icebergs.

The NASA-funded Scatterometer Climate Record Pathfinder (SCP) project has produced non-ocean scatterometer imagery and derived products. To date, four scatterometers have flown on five different spacecraft. The launch of the Seasat Ku-band scatterometer (SASS) in 1978 provided a baseline for studies of global change. The C-band European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Remote Sensing (ERS) -1 and -2 missions (1992 to present; SCP scatterometry data are only available through January 2001) provide a long baseline for studying global climate change. The Ku-band NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) mission (1996 to 1997), SeaWinds on QuikSCAT (1999 to present), and SeaWinds on ADEOS-II have further extended the Ku-band scatterometer data series.

From these data, the SCP project has generated enhanced-resolution radar backscatter images on consistent, compatible grids. From the time series of radar images, derived products related to key climate-related parameters can be extracted for use in cryospheric and climate change studies.

See also:  Spaceborne scatterometer instrument description

Northern Hemisphere daily browse image of QuikSCAT sigma-0 measurements on 11 January 2004. Image courtesy of David Long, Brigham Young University.