Studies of Sea Surface Normalized Radar Cross Sections Observed by Cloudsat
نویسندگان
چکیده
The primary science instrument of the CloudSat Mission is the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). The CPR is a W-band (94 GHz) nadir looking radar (e.g. Tanelli, 2008) with the purpose of measuring backscattered power from hydrometeors (clouds and precipitation). Although the CPR contains an internal calibration system, external calibration using geophysical sources with known normalized radar cross-section (NRCS) values is also of interest. The ocean surface can potentially serve as one such geophysical source for external calibration if an accurate understanding of the sea surface NRCS versus the sea wind speed and direction and sea surface temperature is available.
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