SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS OF WIND SPEED ABOVE SEA SURFACE DURING VERY STRONG BORA WIND

Abstract

Satellite data including wind measurements above sea surface are becoming increasingly useful. This article presents the analysis of wind measurements made between 6 and 8 February 2012 with strong Bora wind in the Primorska region and the north Adriatic regions which caused damage to property. Satellite wind measurements above the sea are important for spatial distribution of the wind field and represent a complementary source of information for numerical weather prediction model for wind field as well as for verification of model forecasts. Measurements of Advance Scatterometer (ASCAT) onboard polar-orbital METOP satellite owned by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) will be presented. The first part deals with measurement principles above the ocean by ASCAT. The main part focuses on the analysis of wind speed ground measurements in the Primorska region and on the buoy near Piran, with the emphasis on the comparison of satellite wind speed measurements and the wind speed of ALADIN numerical weather prediction model.