Algorithms for field-wise scatterometer wind estimation

Field-wise scatterometer wind estimation determines the vector wind at many resolution elements simultaneously by estimating the parameters of a wind field model from the scatterometer measurements. According to simulations, it results in more accurate estimates than traditional point-wise estimation, which estimates the vector wind one resolution element at a time. Further, field-wise estimation produces fewer ambiguities than point-wise estimation. Field-wise estimation necessitates locating the local minima of a high-dimensional objective function. Conventional optimization techniques can be employed if initial search points within the capture regions of the local minima. can be found. We develop and evaluate two novel approaches that determine initial search points and locally optimize them to produce field-wise estimates. The utility of each algorithm is demonstrated using simulated NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) data.