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-C 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
08-Apr-2024
The ASCAT-C wind products have been unavailable on 8 April between 11:00 and 15:15 UTC sensing time due to an instrument anomaly.
29-Feb-2024
The ASCAT-C wind products have been unavailable on 29 Feb between 1:20 and 7:00 UTC sensing time due to a satellite 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.
14-Mar-2022
The ASCAT-C wind products have been unavailable on 14 Mar between 7:15 and 12:48 UTC sensing time due to an instrument anomaly.
18-Feb-2021
The ASCAT-C wind products have been unavailable or delayed between 17 February 8:00 and 18 February 7:00 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
23-Jan-2021
The ASCAT-C wind products have been unavailable on 22 Jan between 15:30 and 21:00 UTC sensing time due to an instrument anomaly.
28-Nov-2019
ASCAT-C winds are available on EUMETCast for all users.
02-Oct-2019
ASCAT-C winds have the operational status now. AWDP version is 3_2_03.
29-Apr-2019
The wind products have been unavailable between 24 Apr 18:00 and 29 Apr 10:00 UTC sensing time due to a ground segment anomaly.
12-Feb-2019
First development version of ASCAT-C global wind product. AWDP version is 3_2_02.
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.
