Ocean surface winds play a significant role in the global ocean-atmosphere system. Surface winds drive the worlds ocean currents, transport atmospheric heat and moisture, force nutrient rich upwelling areas, create surface waves and swell, and can reach destructive force in both extratropical and tropical cyclones. Although the oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, the network of ocean wind observations obtained from conventional buoys and ships is very sparse. The ...
The SeaWinds scatterometer onboard the NASA QuikSCAT satellite has been providing forecasters in the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) with Near-Real Time (NRT) ocean vector winds over large ocean areas since 1999. Although QuikSCAT's impact on the analysis and forecast process has been significant to the short-term wind warning process, this positive impact has not carried over to the analysis of the sea level pressure field over the open oceans. In ...
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