On the 19th of June 1999 the NASA QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in the USA. Its ten-year mission was to measure the surface wind speed and direction over the ice-free global oceans using the SeaWinds scaterrometer. Observations from QuikSCAT contributed to climatological studies, weather forecasting, meteorology, oceanographic research and more.