An Evaluation of Scatterometer-Derived Oceanic Surface Pressure Fields
Oceanic surface pressure fields are derived from the NASA Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) surface wind vector measurements using a two-layer similarity planetary boundary layer model in the midlatitudes and a mixed layer planetary boundary layer model in the tropics. These swath-based surface pressur...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2007
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.539.2485 http://coaps.fsu.edu/scatterometry/meeting/docs/2008/meteorology/patoux.pdf |
| Summary: | Oceanic surface pressure fields are derived from the NASA Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) surface wind vector measurements using a two-layer similarity planetary boundary layer model in the midlatitudes and a mixed layer planetary boundary layer model in the tropics. These swath-based surface pressure fields are evaluated using the following three methods: 1) a comparison of bulk pressure gradients with buoy pressure measurements in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, 2) a least squares difference comparison with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) surface pressure analyses, and 3) a parallel spectral analysis of the QuikSCAT and ECMWF surface pressure fields. The correlation coefficient squared between scatterometer-derived pressure fields and buoys is found to be R2 0.936. The average root-mean-square difference between the scatterometer-derived and the ECMWF pressure fields ranges from 1 to 3 hPa, depending on the latitude and season, and decreases after the assimilation of QuikSCAT winds in the ECMWF numerical weather prediction model. The spectral com-ponents of the scatterometer-derived pressure fields are larger than those of ECMWF surface analyses at all scales in the midlatitudes and only at shorter wavelengths in the tropics. 1. |
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