Earth Science

QuikSCAT

827 tracked publications and 26,694 citations from 2000–2026. Quick Scatterometer Mission. Launched 1999. Life-cycle cost: $188M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window August 1, 1999 to November 1, 2020: 787 publications, 36 top-10% credit.

Orbiter · h-index 79 · 44 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2002

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers August 1, 1999 to November 1, 2020
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods787
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods5,122
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods6.5
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods4
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods91 (12%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods36 · 0.93% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods1 · 0.26% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods79
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods117
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods2.9
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods244
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods578

Tracked publications

  1. Satellite Measurements Reveal Persistent Small-Scale Features in Ocean Winds

    Chelton, Dudley B., 2004, Sci

    739 citations

  2. Observations of Coupling between Surface Wind Stress and Sea Surface Temperature in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

    Chelton, Dudley B., 2001, JCli

    426 citations

  3. A Global Climatology of Surface Wind and Wind Stress Fields from Eight Years of QuikSCAT Scatterometer Data

    Risien, Craig M., 2008, JPO

    421 citations

  4. Annual Cycle of Southeast Asia -- Maritime Continent Rainfall and the Asymmetric Monsoon Transition.

    Chang, C.-P., 2005, JCli

    356 citations

  5. Wind as a Long-Distance Dispersal Vehicle in the Southern Hemisphere

    Muñoz, Jesús, 2004, Sci

    348 citations

  6. Rapid reduction of Arctic perennial sea ice

    Nghiem, S. V., 2007, GeoRL

    288 citations

  7. Detection and Processing of Bistatically Reflected GPS Signals From Low Earth Orbit for the Purpose of Ocean Remote Sensing

    Gleason, Scott, 2005, ITGRS

    251 citations

  8. Forest productivity and water stress in Amazonia: observations from GOSAT chlorophyll fluorescence

    Lee, Jung-Eun, 2013, RSPSB

    246 citations

  9. Evaluation of Wind Vectors Observed by QuikSCAT/SeaWinds Using Ocean Buoy Data

    Ebuchi, Naoto, 2002, JAtOT

    244 citations

  10. Image Reconstruction and Enhanced Resolution Imaging from Irregular Samples

    Early, 2001, ITGRS

    206 citations

  11. Observations of SST-Induced Perturbations of the Wind Stress Field over the Southern Ocean on Seasonal Timescales.

    O'Neill, Larry W., 2003, JCli

    196 citations

  12. Numerical study on the summer upwelling system in the northern continental shelf of the South China Sea

    Jing, Zhi-you, 2009, CSR

    195 citations

  13. High-Resolution Satellite Measurements of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Response to SST Variations along the Agulhas Return Current.

    O'Neill, Larry W., 2005, JCli

    193 citations

  14. A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size

    Chavas, D. R., 2010, GeoRL

    193 citations

  15. The shared and unique values of optical, fluorescence, thermal and microwave satellite data for estimating large-scale crop yields

    Guan, Kaiyu, 2017, RSEnv

    192 citations

  16. Modeling distribution of Amazonian tree species and diversity using remote sensing measurements

    Saatchi, Sassan, 2008, RSEnv

    170 citations

  17. Tip Jets and Barrier Winds: A QuikSCAT Climatology of High Wind Speed Events around Greenland.

    Moore, G. W. K., 2005, JCli

    165 citations

  18. Atmospheric manifestation of tropical instability wave observed by QuikSCAT and tropical rain measuring mission

    Liu, Timothy W., 2000, GeoRL

    152 citations

  19. Upwelling around Cabo Frio, Brazil: The importance of wind stress curl

    Castelao, Renato M., 2006, GeoRL

    152 citations

  20. Annual cycle of the South Indian Ocean (Seychelles-Chagos) thermocline ridge in a regional ocean model

    Hermes, J. C., 2008, JGRC

    150 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming QuikSCAT in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

((abs:"QuikSCAT" OR abs:QSCAT OR (=abs:"SeaWinds" AND NOT abs:("ADEOS" OR "Midori" OR "Advanced Earth Observing Satellite" OR "Blended SeaWinds")))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[1999-08 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (1)

  1. Adjustment of the summertime marine atmospheric boundary layer to the western Iberia coastal morphology Uses QuikSCAT 2000-2009 wind estimates to study coastal winds off western Iberia. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (10)

  1. On the assimilation of Ku-band scatterometer winds for weather analysis and forecasting Owner exclusion (2026-10-02): Figa and Stoffelen's "On the assimilation of Ku-band scatterometer winds for weather analysis and forecasting" (doi:10.1109/36.851772) was written before QuikSCAT returned data. Its assimilation and quality-control results use NSCAT winds, with ERS comparisons; QuikSCAT is discussed as a future application, not a source of measured science results. Supporting review: var/first_science_publications/results/056.json; author manuscript: https://knmi-scatterometer-website-prd.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/publications/nscat_paper.pdf Decision 👨
  2. Improved resolution backscatter measurements with the SeaWinds pencil-beam scatterometer Calibration paper (owner call, 2026-09-09). Describes the SeaWinds pencil-beam signal-processing hardware modification (deramp processing for range discrimination) and demonstrates it on a synthetic backscatter scene; no science result. Note this is the mission CSV's first_lifetime_n10_publication and first_lifetime_n100_publication (doi:10.1109/36.823904), so both fields move on the next export. Decision 👨
  3. Polarimetric scatterometry: a promising technique for improving ocean surface wind measurements from space Design study for a future polarimetric scatterometer; uses no QuikSCAT data. Decision 🤖
  4. High-Resolution Measurements With a Spaceborne Pencil-Beam Scatterometer Using Combined Range/Doppler Discrimination Techniques Proposes a processing technique for future scatterometers; uses no QuikSCAT data. Decision 🤖
  5. Design and optimization of a Ku-band rotating, range-gated fanbeam scatterometer Design of a different scatterometer; mentions QuikSCAT only as a performance benchmark. Decision 🤖
  6. Russian scatterometer: discussion of the concept and the numerical simulation of wind field retrieval Concept for a Russian scatterometer; mentions SeaWinds only as a design prototype. Decision 🤖
  7. FY-3E Wind Scatterometer Prelaunch and Commissioning Performance Verification Performance tests of China's FY-3E scatterometer; names SeaWinds only in a list. Decision 🤖
  8. QGIS Shoreline Change Analysis Tool (QSCAT): A fast, open-source shoreline change analysis plugin for QGIS Describes a shoreline-analysis software tool also called QSCAT; not the QuikSCAT mission. Decision 🤖
  9. Acceleration and spatial reorganization of bank erosion under prolonged sediment starvation: multi-decadal evidence from the Vam Nao channel River-bank erosion study; QSCAT here is a shoreline-analysis software tool. Decision 🤖
  10. Research on the Parameter Design Method and System Simulation of Multimode Microwave Remote Sensors Operating in Scatterometer Modes Design method for a new radar sensor; mentions QuikSCAT only as a performance benchmark. Decision 🤖