Built in a record time of just 12 months, QuikScat will provide climatologists, meteorologists and oceanographers with daily, detailed snapshots of the winds swirling above the world's oceans.
Winds play a major role in every aspect of weather on Earth.
They directly affect the turbulent exchanges of heat, moisture and greenhouse gases between Earth's atmosphere and the ocean. The instrument senses ripples caused by winds near the ocean's surface, from which scientists can compute the winds' speed and direction. SeaWinds uses a rotating dish antenna with two spot beams that sweep in a circular pattern. The antenna radiates microwave pulses at a frequency of 13.4 gigahertz across broad regions on Earth's surface.