Lidar in-space technology experiment measurements of sea surface directional reflectance and the link to surface wind speed.

The dependence of sea surface directional reflectance on surface wind stress suggests a method for deriving surface wind speed from space-based lidar measurements of sea surface backscatter. In particular, lidar measurements in the nadir angle range from 10 degrees to 30 degrees appear to be most sensitive to surface wind-speed variability in the regime below 10 m/s. The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) shuttle lidar mission of September 1994 provided a unique opportunity to measure directional backscatter at selected locations by use of the landmark track maneuver and to measure fixed-angle backscatter from the ocean surfaces on a global scale. During the landmark track maneuver the shuttle orbiter orientation and roll axis are adjusted continuously to maintain the lidar footprint at a fixed location for a duration of ~1 min. Several data sets were converted to calibrated reflectance units and compared with a surface reflectance model to deduce surface wind speeds. Comparisons were made with ERS-1 scatterometer data and surface measurements.