SCATSAT-1 Wind Products for Tropical Cyclone Monitoring, Prediction and Surface Wind Structure Analysis

The present study discusses the application of near real-time ocean surface wind vectors retrieved from scatterometer instrument, on-board Indian polar satellite SCATSAT-1, for tropical cyclone (TC) analysis and prediction. The real-time tropical cyclogenesis prediction of cyclonic activities in the North Indian Ocean basin has been presented using SCATSAT-1 wind data. The study also demonstrates the utility of high-resolution surface wind products of the scatterometer in monitoring mesoscale-level features of TCs for centre determination, size estimation and analysis of asymmetric wind radii. Impact of SCATSAT-1 winds for TC prediction using numerical weather prediction model has also been discussed. The shortcomings of ocean surface wind observations from space-based scatterometers are addressed, in addition to the sensor requirements for future satellite missions.