The ASCAT Wind Product contains measurements of the wind direction and wind speed above the sea surface. The measurements are obtained through the processing of scatterometer data originating from the ASCAT instrument on EUMETSAT's Metop-B satellite, as described in the ASCAT Wind Product User Manual.
The processing is done in near-real time. From the sensing time of the last measurement in a product, it takes approximately 2 hours to get the corresponding wind product ready at KNMI.
The last 22 hours of data are shown in two separate plots showing ascending and descending tracks, respectively. This is done to avoid overlap of data in the pictures. Note that also data from previous days can be displayed using the link on the right hand side. The overview plots show color coded wind speed measurements. If you click somewhere in the satellite track, a picture appears showing the scatterometer winds in more detail.
Product monitoring information in near-real time is available through the corresponding link on the right hand side.
Note: This web site is not supported on a 24x7 basis and it should not be considered operational.
Access to products
This wind product is available in BUFR and NetCDF format. The BUFR data are disseminated through the EUMETCast system; for access please contact EUMETSAT. The products are also available on a password protected FTP server (products of the last three days only). Contact the KNMI OSI SAF team for access. Historic data can be obtained through the EUMETSAT Data Centre.
For a swift response management procedure, user requests on this scatterometer wind data product should be issued at the Ocean and Sea Ice SAF website.
Note: All intellectual property rights of the OSI SAF and EARS products belong to EUMETSAT. The use of these products is granted to every interested user, free of charge. If you wish to use these products, EUMETSAT's copyright credit must be shown by displaying the words "copyright (year) EUMETSAT" on each of the products used.
Modifications/anomalies
06-Dec-2022
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 6 December between 13:06 and 20:03 UTC sensing time due to a spacecraft anomaly.
22-Nov-2022
Introduction of Land Contamination Ratio in ASCAT input data. The minimum distance of winds to the coast is reduced from approximately 20 km to 10 - 15 km in the new products.
04-Oct-2022
Upgrade of wind processing chain in preparation of introduction of Land Contamination Ratio in ASCAT input data. AWDP version is 3_3_01.
03-Dec-2021
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 3 December between 12:30 and 16:39 UTC sensing time due to an instrument anomaly.
29-Jun-2021
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 29 June between 0:51 and 4:27 UTC sensing time due to a spacecraft anomaly.
12-Mar-2019
The wind products have been unavailable on 12 March between 12:09 and 17:42 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
18-Jan-2019
The wind products have been partly unavailable on EUMETCast on 18 January between 0:00 and 10:00 UTC.
28-Nov-2018
The ASCAT-B Coastal winds have been delayed and partly unavailable between 27 November 14:03 and 28 November 10:36 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly in the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
25-Sep-2018
The CMOD7 Geophysical Model Function replaces CMOD5n for wind retrieval; stress-equivalent ECMWF model background winds are used instead of real 10m winds. AWDP version is 3_2_01.
08-Sep-2018
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 8 September between 12:50 and 17:30 UTC sensing time due to an instrument anomaly.
10-Dec-2017
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 10 December between 10:39 and 16:30 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly in the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
13-Sep-2017
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 13 September between 10:57 and 16:03 UTC sensing time due to a Metop-B out of plane manoeuvre.
14-May-2017
The ASCAT-B coastal winds have been unavailable between 13 May 22:42 and 14 May 1:30 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
18-Mar-2017
The ASCAT-B coastal winds have been unavailable on 18 March between 7:39 and 11:21 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly at KNMI.
08-Feb-2017
The ASCAT-B coastal winds have been unavailable on 8 February between 11:39 and 16:45 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly at KNMI.
25-Jan-2017
The ASCAT-B coastal winds have been unavailable and delayed on 25 January between 12:18 and 14:30 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
06-Jan-2017
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 6 January between 10:42 and 16:24 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly in the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
20-Dec-2016
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 20 December between 9:03 and 9:54 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
22-Sep-2016
The ASCAT-B coastal winds have been unavailable between 21 September 18:15 and 22 September 0:54 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly in the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
18-Sep-2016
The ASCAT-B winds have been unavailable on 17 September between 12:15 and 18:51 UTC and between 17 September 20:24 and 18 September 15:09 UTC sensing time due to a power outage at KNMI.
27-Apr-2016
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 27 April between 11:00 and 14:00 UTC sensing time due to a Metop-B out of plane manoeuvre.
29-Mar-2016
The EARS 12.5 km wind products have been replaced by 12.5 km coastal wind products. AWDP version is 2_4_01.
29-Mar-2016
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 27 March between 12:18 and 15:57 UTC sensing time due to an anomaly in the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
15-Oct-2015
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 15 October between 0:27 and 3:48 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
22-Oct-2014
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 22 October between 11:24 and 15:30 UTC sensing time due to a Metop-B out of plane manoeuvre.
08-Oct-2014
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 8 October between 12:48 and 16:57 UTC sensing time due to a Metop-B out of plane manoeuvre.
09-Aug-2014
The ASCAT data have been unavailable on 8 August between 16:33 and 22:03 UTC sensing time for an unknown reason.
03-Jun-2014
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 2 June between 12:08 and 16:17 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
27-Mar-2014
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 26 March between 12:51 and 13:45 UTC sensing time due to an EPS ground segment anomaly.
29-Oct-2013
The ASCAT data have been unavailable on 29 October, between 6:31 and 10:51 UTC sensing time.
19-Jun-2013
AWDP version 2_2_01: preparation for ASCAT-B backscatter calibration change.
03-Jun-2013
Historic ASCAT-B data are available from the EUMETSAT Data Centre as of 3 June 2013.
14-May-2013
AWDP version 2_2_00: preparation for level 1b data format change.
06-Feb-2013
The ASCAT winds have been unavailable on 6 February between 1:12 and 4:00 UTC sensing time due to an issue with the KNMI EUMETCast reception station.
29-Nov-2012
The coastal wind product has been unavailable on 28 November, between 16:00 and 19:30 UTC sensing time due to a problem in the data connection between EUMETSAT and KNMI.
14-Nov-2012
First development version of ASCAT-B Coastal global wind product. AWDP version is 2_1_01.
Acknowledgements
KNMI hosts the operational deployment of this scatterometer wind product as part of the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF), see related link or click on the OSI SAF logo above for more information.
The processing software for the wind products is developed in the EUMETSAT Numerical Weather Prediction Satellite Application Facility (NWP SAF) and OSI SAF.
