A scatterometer, as an active microwave radar sensor, measures the return of radar waves in the form of a backscatter coefficient after reflection or scattering from Earth’s surface. The primary objective of the scatterometer is to record the surface-wind vector observations over the ocean for the study of the climate, monitoring, the forecasting of cyclones/hurricanes, and air–sea interactions. Since its first launch in 1978, many technical improvements have been made to the scatterometer due to its potential for all-weather global-level monitoring. The scatterometer has found many emerging applications in different scientific domains, such as cryosphere, hydrology, agriculture, and climate studies, with the continuous development of methods and models.

中文翻译：

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散射仪的遗产：应用回顾和展望

散射仪作为有源微波雷达传感器，测量雷达波在地球表面反射或散射后以反向散射系数的形式返回。散射仪的主要目的是记录海洋上空的表面风矢量观测数据，以研究气候、监测、气旋/飓风的预报以及海气相互作用。自 1978 年首次推出以来，由于散射仪具有全天候全球监测的潜力，已对散射仪进行了许多技术改进。随着方法和模型的不断发展，散射仪已在不同的科学领域发现了许多新兴应用，例如冰冻圈、水文、农业和气候研究。