Assessment of Saildrone Extreme Wind Measurements in Hurricane Sam Using MW Satellite Sensors

In 2021, a novel NOAA-Saildrone project deployed five uncrewed surface vehicle Saildrones (SDs) to monitor regions of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea frequented by tropical cyclones. One SDs, SD-1045, crossed Hurricane Sam (Category 4) on September 30, providing first-ever surface-ocean videos conditions in core major hurricane reporting near-surface winds as high 40 m/s. Here, we present comprehensive analysis interpretation Saildrone ocean wind measurements Sam, using following datasets for direct indirect comparisons: an NDBC buoy path storm, radiometer cyclone (TC) from SMAP AMSR2, retrievals ASCAT scatterometers SAR (RadarSat2), HWRF model winds. The SD show excellent consistency with satellite observations remarkable ability detect strength at location. We use data perform cross-comparisons buoy, which sampled different relative locations within storm. Finally, review collective among these describing uncertainty each dataset discussing potential sources systematic errors, such impact extreme uncertainties methodology.