HR: 11:20h
AN: OS52B-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Assessment of The New Fsu Winds Climatology
AU: * Bourassa, M A
EM: bourassa@coaps.fsu.edu
AF: COAPS FLorida State University, COAPS Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2840 United States
AU: O'Brien, J J
EM: jim.obrien@coaps.fsu.edu
AF: COAPS FLorida State University, COAPS Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2840 United States
AU: Smith, S R
EM: smith@coaps.fsu.edu
AF: COAPS FLorida State University, COAPS Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2840 United States
AB: A new objective time series of in situ based monthly surface winds has been developed as a replacement for the subjective Tropical Pacific FSU winds. The new time series begins in Jan. 1978, and it is ongoing. The objective method distinguishes between observations from volunteer observing ships (VOS) and buoys, allowing different weights for these different types of observations. An objective method is used to determine these weights, and accounts for the differences in error characteristics and in spatial/temporal sampling. A comparison is made between the objective and subjective products, as well as scatterometer winds averaged monthly on the same grid. The scatterometer fields are a good proxy for truth. These three sets of fields have similar magnitudes, directions, and derivative fields. Both in situ wind product underestimate convergence about the Intertropical convergence zone; however, the objective FSU product is a much better match to the scatterometer observations. Furthermore, the objective winds are less variable in time than the subjective winds. The strengths and weakness of the objective and subjective winds are discussed.
DE: 9355 Pacific Ocean
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 4215 Climate and interannual variability (3309)
DE: 4231 Equatorial oceanography
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting