The Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) developed by ProSensing has been used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aboard their hurricane reconnaissance aircraft to measure over-ocean wind speed and rain rate in hurricanes and tropical storms. The SFMR is a compact, airborne radiometer designed to measure surface brightness temperature in 6 frequency bands spanning 4.5 to 7 GHz.
Calibrated values of brightness temperature generated by SFMR are reported in real time to a windspeed retrieval algorithm, developed in cooperation with NOAA's Hurricane Research Division. This algorithm generates a real time measure of surface level wind speed and rain rate in hurricanes and tropical storms.