Uncertainty in the Winds Climate Record - Florida Climate Institute

Collaborators: P. Hughes, J. Steffen

Institutions: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Filed Under: Energy

Abstract: Ocean winds are one of the most important climate variables for coupled air/sea interaction and ocean forcing. A climate data record of ocean winds relies on the combined observations from several types of satellites (scatterometers and various types of radiometers). Even if the wind observations are perfectly calibrated, differences in sampling will contribute to errors in gridded products. The proposed activities will (1) determine and graphically demonstrate differences associated with calibration errors and differences associated with sampling, (2) determine error characteristics in gridded products, and (3) make the information from these studies readily available to users of these products. Furthermore, feedback from the users will be used to improve how we communicate this information and improve the type of information that is provided.

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