Previous approaches to the estimation of ocean surface windspeeds from pass
ive microwave data have been incapable of providing information within 100
km of a coastline due to land contamination in pixel footprints, This paper
describes the application of a brightness-temperature separation method to
the computation of special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I)based estimates
of ocean surface windspeed for the littoral zone surrounding the southern p
art of the British Isles over the three-month period of May-July 1996, When
validated against in situ buoy data, the windspeed estimates for the coast
al zone displayed broadly similar error characteristics to equivalent estim
ates made for the open ocean.