The SeaWinds QuikSCAT L2B Scatterometer Ocean Winds, Version 3.0

The SeaWinds instrument on QuikSCAT is an active microwave radar designed to measure electromagnetic backscatter from the wind roughened ocean surface. The L2B data are presented as orbit swaths of wind speed and direction at a 25 km resolution. The satellite is in a sun synchronous orbit with a 101 minute period and a repeat cycle of 4 days (57 orbits).

Notice of potential satellite failure from JPL.PODAAC 10 December 2000.  The QuikSCAT antenna remains in a stalled position. Near-real-time data have not been available since 0700 UTC on 23 November 2009 (orbital revolution number 54315), and science-quality data have not been available since 00 UTC 22 November 2009 (orbital revolution 54296).

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • datahelp@ucar.edu

Temporal Range

  • Begin:  1999-07-19
    End:  2009-11-30

Keywords

Resource Type dataset
Temporal Range Begin 1999-07-19
Temporal Range End 2009-11-30
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links

Related Resource #1 : NASA JPL PO.DAAC

Additional Information N/A
Resource Format HDF4
Standardized Resource Format HDF
Asset Size 135194.725 MB
Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization N/A
Distributor NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

Author Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Publisher NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
Publication Date 2000-05-22
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.5065/QZZB-MN12
Alternate Identifier d744002
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category oceans
Progress onGoing
Metadata Date 2025-10-09T01:29:18Z
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.gdex::d744002
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. (2000). The SeaWinds QuikSCAT L2B Scatterometer Ocean Winds, Version 3.0. NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/QZZB-MN12. Accessed 11 October 2025.

Harvest Source