The Legacy of Scatterometers: Review of Applications and Perspective

Abstract

A scatterometer, as an active microwave radar sensor, measures the return of radar waves in the form of a backscatter coefficient after reflection or scattering from Earth’s surface. The primary objective of the scatterometer is to record the surface-wind vector observations over the ocean for the study of the climate, monitoring, the forecasting of cyclones/hurricanes, and air–sea interactions. Since its first launch in 1978, many technical improvements have been made to the scatterometer due to its potential for all-weather global-level monitoring. The scatterometer has found many emerging applications in different scientific domains, such as cryosphere, hydrology, agriculture, and climate studies, with the continuous development of methods and models. The present work is focused on reviewing historical, current, and future scatterometer missions and the progress of scatterometers in various emerging and scientific applications. Here, both C-band and Ku-band-based scatterometers are considered and explored. Subsequently, a metaanalysis has also been conducted to analyze the research status of scatterometer studies. The scope of this article allows an extensive exploration of emerging applications of scatterometers and discusses their strengths, limitations, and current progress in the real world.