# HY Scatterometer
*component . products*

Ku-band scatterometer flown on HY-2D.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: cast
- **component**: {}
- **entity type**: component
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: cast
- **attributes**: {"kind":"component","product_status":"operational","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"cast","description":"Ku-band scatterometer flown on HY-2D.","component":"{}"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
HY Scatterometer (HSCAT) on HY-2D is a Ku-band conically scanning pencil-beam scatterometer for sea-surface wind vector measurement.[^wmo-hscat-instrument][^osi-hy2-winds-pum] It uses active microwave radar scatterometry with two conically scanning beams that provide multiple azimuth views of each wind vector cell.[^wmo-hscat-instrument][^osi-hy2-winds-pum] The operating frequency falls in Ku band at 13.25 to 13.3 GHz.[^wmo-hscat-instrument][^osi-hy2-winds-pum] The geometry provides a 1300 km swath, 25 km standard resolution and 50 km best-quality resolution.[^wmo-hscat-instrument] The rotating dish is 1 m and spins at 20 rpm, with HH and VV spot beams at 42 and 49 degrees incidence and fore/aft views in each wind vector cell.[^osi-hy2-winds-pum] Ku-band wind retrievals are sensitive to rain; moderate and heavy rain can create bogus wind retrievals, so quality-control flags are part of the HY-2D retrieval context.[^osi-hy2-winds-pum] Comparable Ku-band HSCAT instruments fly on HY-2B and HY-2C, forming a series of similar scatterometers across the HY-2 ocean-dynamics satellites.[^wmo-hscat-instrument]

## Compositional position
- hy-2d (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> HY Scatterometer
- hy-2b (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> HY Scatterometer

## Sources
- [wmo-hscat-instrument] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: HSCAT | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/hscat | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16
- [osi-hy2-winds-pum] | OSI SAF Product User Manual for HY-2 winds | https://scatterometer.knmi.nl/publications/pdf/osisaf_cdop3_ss3_pum_hy-2_winds.pdf | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16 | published=2022-11-04
- [hy2-intercalibration-2021] | Intercalibration of Backscatter Measurements among Ku-Band Scatterometers Onboard the Chinese HY-2 Satellite Constellation | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4783 | tier=peer-reviewed | accessed=2026-06-16

---
Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/component/hscat
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)