Diurnal cycle of sea surface winds and temperatures during the 2004 North American Monsoon Experiment

The 2004 North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) Extended Observing Period (EOP) spanned 1 July - 15 August with the objective of exploring the large-scale circulation patterns and their diurnal variation over northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States, and how they relate to the onset and evolution of the monsoon. In this study, high-resolution oceanic surface winds and sea surface temperatures in the morning and afternoon will be used to examine in the summer of 2004. The diurnal cycle in the Gulf of California is especially interesting to study with high-resolution datasets because of the challenges faced in modeling the fine-scale structure and the significance in triggering Gulf Surges and even the North American Monsoon.