ASCAT tandem coverage

In order to examine the coverage of a system of two identical satellite scatterometers, a study is made using ASCAT data from two different periods in time, corresponding to a certain time shift in orbit phase between the two satellites. This is relevant for tandem MetOp operation (A and B, B and C) and for Post-EPS tandem scatterometer coverage considerations. The latter may be useful in designing the scatterometer life time, which appears rather easily extended (ERS-1: 6 years; ERS-2: 14 years; QuikScat: 10 years).

Since a polar satellite covers the earth in 12 hours by its ascending and descending passes, we take the coverage specification over 7 tandem orbits, i.e., equivalent to 12 hours, as a benchmark for nowcasting and regional NWP applications.