Blended and gridded high resolution global sea surface wind speed and climatology from multiple satellites: 1987–present

Sea surface wind (SSW) plays a key role in regulating the earth's water and energy cycles and redistribution of biochemical and greenhouse gases and other properties between the atmosphere and the ocean. As the atmosphere's most dynamic parameter, wind speed over the sea surface has been observed from multiple satellites and in-situ instruments and related individual products have been available. As requirements for wind related products and research push the limits for increasingly higher and higher resolutions in both time and space, it is logical to produce blended wind products from the already available multiple resources to fill data gaps and reduce errors and aliases associated with the sub-samplings of the individual observations. Such blended and gridded high resolution ocean wind speed products (from July 1987 to presently) are described in this paper. In particular, products on a global 0.25º grid are available for time resolutions of 12-hourly, daily, and monthly using a simple spatial-temporally weighted interpolation. 6-hourly products are also possible since the beginning of year 2000 when more than six satellites with ascending and descending tracks are available. A 10-year (1995-2004) monthly climatology was also generated from the blended data, and an improved version with optimum interpolation is being developed.