COWVR/TEMPEST Surface State Parameter Retrievals

The first component of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Ocean Surface Flux System (NFLUX) uses multiple polynomial regression algorithms to translate satellite brightness temperature data from passive microwave sensors into swath-level estimates of ocean surface state parameters. Here, we have updated NFLUX to include processing of a combination of brightness temperature data from the Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer (COWVR) and the Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (TEMPEST). First, due to the different sampling geometry and footprints, the TEMPEST data is averaged to the COWVR observation locations. Then, the combined COWVR/TEMPEST data are converted into ocean surface air temperature and specific humidity estimates. Validation is performed using in situ ship and buoy data.