Estimation of sea level pressure fields during Cyclone Nilam from Oceansat‐2 scatterometer winds

Sea level pressure observations are rarely available over most of the oceans and no remote sensing instrument can measure it directly. Here, we explore the estimation of sea level pressure fields using surface wind observations from OSCAT, the scatterometer onboard Oceansat‐2, during the 27 October–2 November 2012 passage of Cyclone Nilam over the Bay of Bengal. The estimated pressure is validated with moored‐buoy observations. Scatterometer‐derived pressure differences are closer to in situ observations than those in examined numerical model estimations. The estimated pressure is more accurate than European Centre for Medium‐range Weather Forecasting re‐analysis values in location, track, and intensity.