Introduction

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), launched on Dec. 15, 2016, is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission that was designed with the purpose to collect the first frequent space-based measurements of surface wind speeds in the inner core of tropical cyclones. 

Measuring Wind Speeds in the Tropics From Space

Made up of a constellation of eight micro-satellites, the CYGNSS observatory provides coverage over the tropical oceans between approximately 38° N and 38° S latitude with an average revisit time of seven hours.

Shown is wind speed from the Delay Doppler Mapping Instrument (DDMI) aboard the CYGNSS satellite constellation from 2017 to 2020. The  evolution of weather systems is clearly visible in the animation. For example, tropical and extratropical storms are shown as high wind speed events.