Why is there a QuikSCAT data gap annually around November 17? Do you provide a list of other potential data gaps?
To minimize the chance of damage during the Leonid meteor shower, the solar panels on the QuikSCAT spacecraft are rotated to present the minimum cross-sectional area to the direction of the meteor flow. Also, the instrument high voltage is turned off to prevent possible shorting caused by plasma clouds generated by meteor impacts. http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/quikscat/qscat_prob.html lists all data gaps longer than 4 seconds. If the gap spans an entire rev, no L2B file will exist for that rev. Furthermore, if the gap spans an entire day, no L3 file will exist for that day.
