Abstract
The effect of surface wind direction on sea surface emissivity was studied for wavelengths of 3.7, 8.8, 11, and 12μm. Wind direction is considered for 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180° from the direction of emitted radiation, while wind speed is changed from 1 to 15m/s. Computation showed that wind direction has little effect on sea surface emissivity (<0.002) when the emergent angle (θ) measured from the zenith direction is <60° even at a high wind speed. Wind direction is not essential for practical sea surface temperature retrieval as long as θ<60°. The wind direction effect appears for θ>60° where the wavelength dependence of the emissivity difference caused by wind direction change is low (<0.003).
