<s>
The	O
NASA	O
QuikSCAT	O
(	O
Quick	O
Scatterometer	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
Earth	O
observation	O
satellite	O
carrying	O
the	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
scatterometer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
scatterometer	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
QuikSCAT	O
scatterometer	O
to	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
the	O
nearly	O
identical	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
scatterometer	O
flown	O
on	O
the	O
ADEOS-2	O
satellite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
from	O
this	O
mode	O
of	O
the	O
mission	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
accuracy	O
of	O
other	O
satellite	O
surface	O
wind	O
datasets	O
by	O
inter-calibrating	O
other	O
Ku-band	B-Algorithm
scatterometers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
used	O
a	O
rotating	O
dish	O
antenna	O
with	O
two	O
spot	O
beams	O
that	O
sweep	O
in	O
a	O
circular	O
pattern	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
QuikSCAT	O
operates	O
at	O
a	O
frequency	O
of	O
13.4GHz	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
in	O
the	O
Ku-band	B-Algorithm
of	O
microwave	O
frequencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
instrument	O
,	O
the	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
scatterometer	O
,	O
was	O
carried	O
on	O
the	O
satellite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
instrument	O
,	O
a	O
specialized	O
microwave	O
radar	O
system	O
,	O
measured	O
both	O
the	O
speed	O
and	O
direction	O
of	O
winds	O
near	O
the	O
ocean	O
surface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
operational	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
weather	I-General_Concept
prediction	I-General_Concept
centers	O
began	O
assimilating	O
QuikSCAT	O
data	O
in	O
early	O
2002	O
,	O
with	O
preliminary	O
assessments	O
indicating	O
a	O
positive	O
impact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
QuikSCAT	O
observations	O
are	O
provided	O
to	O
these	O
operational	O
users	O
in	O
near-real-time	O
(	O
NRT	O
)	O
in	O
binary	O
universal	O
form	O
for	O
the	O
representation	O
of	O
meteorological	O
data	O
(	O
BUFR	B-Application
)	O
format	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
Oceanic	O
and	O
Atmospheric	O
Administration/National	O
Environmental	O
Satellite	O
,	O
Data	O
,	O
and	O
Information	O
Service	O
(	O
NOAA/NESDIS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
tropical	O
cyclone	O
captured	O
by	O
the	O
SeaWinds	B-Algorithm
instrument	O
was	O
Typhoon	O
Olga	O
in	O
the	O
western	O
Pacific	O
basin	O
.	O
</s>
