The ever-changing weather and lack of in situ data in the Bering Sea warran
ts experimentation with new meteorological observing systems for this regio
n. Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is well suited for observing t
he sea surface footprints of marine meteorological phenomena because its ra
diation is sensitive to centimeter-scale sea surface roughness, regardless
of the time of day or cloud conditions. The near-surface wind field generat
es this sea surface roughness. Therefore, the sea surface footprints of met
eorological phenomena are often revealed by SAR imagery when the main modul
ator of sea surface roughness is the wind. These attributes, in addition to
the relatively high resolution of SAR products, make this instrument an ex
cellent candidate for filling the meteorological observing needs over the B
ering Sea.
This study demonstrates the potential usefulness of SAR for observing Berin
g Sea meteorology by focusing on its ability to image the sea surface footp
rints of polar mesoscale cyclones (PMCs). These storms can form unexpectedl
y and are threatening to maritime interests. In this demonstration, a veter
an meteorologist at the Anchorage National Weather Service Forecast Office
is asked to produce a surface reanalysis for three separate archived cases
when SAR imaged a PMC but the original analysis, produced without the aid o
f SAR data, did not display it. The results show that in these three cases
the inclusion of SAR data in the analysis procedure leads to large differen
ces between the original surface analysis and the reanalysis. Of particular
interest is that, in each case, the PMC is added into the reanalysis. It i
s argued that the reanalyses more accurately portray the near-surface meteo
rology for each case.