ECMWF and SSM/I Global Surface Wind Speeds
Open Access
- 1 June 1994
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
- Vol. 11 (3) , 779-788
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1994)011<0779:easgsw>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Monthly mean 2.5° × 2.5° resolution 10-m-height wind speeds from the Special Sensor Microwavelimager (SSM/I) instrument and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecast-analysis system are compared between 60°S and 60°N during 1988–91. The SSM/I data were uniformly processed while numerous changes were made to the ECMWF forecast-analysis system. The SSM/I measurements, which were compared with moored-buoy wind observations, were used as a reference dataset to evaluate the influence of the changes made to the ECMWF system upon the ECMWF surface wind speed over the ocean. A demonstrable yearly decrease of the difference between SSM/I and ECMWF wind speeds occurred in the 10°S–10°N region, including the 5°S–5°N zone of the Pacific Ocean, where nearly all of the variations occurred in the 160°E–160°W region. The apparent improvement of the ECMWF wind speed occurred at the same time as the yearly decrease of the equatorial Pacific SSM/I wind speed, which was associated with ... Abstract Monthly mean 2.5° × 2.5° resolution 10-m-height wind speeds from the Special Sensor Microwavelimager (SSM/I) instrument and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecast-analysis system are compared between 60°S and 60°N during 1988–91. The SSM/I data were uniformly processed while numerous changes were made to the ECMWF forecast-analysis system. The SSM/I measurements, which were compared with moored-buoy wind observations, were used as a reference dataset to evaluate the influence of the changes made to the ECMWF system upon the ECMWF surface wind speed over the ocean. A demonstrable yearly decrease of the difference between SSM/I and ECMWF wind speeds occurred in the 10°S–10°N region, including the 5°S–5°N zone of the Pacific Ocean, where nearly all of the variations occurred in the 160°E–160°W region. The apparent improvement of the ECMWF wind speed occurred at the same time as the yearly decrease of the equatorial Pacific SSM/I wind speed, which was associated with ...Keywords
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