A New Cross-Calibrated, Multi-Satellite Ocean Surface Wind Product

A new set of cross-calibrated, multi-satellite ocean surface wind data sets is introduced. The principal data set covers the global ocean for the period beginning in 1987 with six-hour and 25-km resolution and is produced by combining all ocean surface wind speed observations from SSM/I, AMSR-E, and TMI, and all ocean surface wind vector observations from QuikSCAT and SeaWinds. An enhanced variational analysis method (VAM) performs quality control and combines these data with available conventional ship and buoy data and ECMWF analyses. The VAM analyses fit the data used very closely. Comparisons with withheld WindSat observations are very good.