Geophysical Model Function for the AMSR2 C-Band Wind Excess Emissivity at High Winds

Measurements of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) onboard the Global Change Observation Mission-Water 1 (GCOM-W1) satellite at 6.925 and 7.3 GHz and both linear polarizations over tropical cyclones (TCs) during 2012-2014 are used to derive a new geophysical function relating the brightness temperature to the sea surface wind speed (SWS) in extreme conditions. Similar sensitivity to the SWS at close C-band frequencies allowed correcting for the atmospheric contributions to the microwave radiance and estimating the brightness temperature (TB) at the surface under TCs, combining theoretical modeling and measured TB analyses. Estimated oceanic TB's were regressed against the wind speeds from the Best Track Archive to derive a new geophysical model function for the wind speed excess emissivity at AMSR2 C-band microwave frequencies.

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