Changes in monthly value of ocean surface winds ...

• Main Authors: Zieger, Stefan, Babanin, Alexander, Young, Ian
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Swinburne 2024
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25916/sut.26229125.v1; https://swinburne.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Changes_in_monthly_value_of_ocean_surface_winds/26229125/1

Data collected from ships, remote-sensing satellites, and numerical re-analysis indicate that on average the wind speed at the ocean surface has increased in recent decades. The magnitude of reported trends vary in different studies based on dataset, data coverage, and method used. Observations of the ocean surface by satellites, namely altimeter and SSM/I, provide a reasonable long dataset with global coverage. This well calibrated and validated dataset is analysed for linear trends for regional mean time series and mean time series for each calendar month over the period of 1991-2008. The data indicate that the observed global trend is not uniformly distributed and can be linked to a signi_cant uptrend in regional average time series across equatorial regions and the Southern Ocean. When analysing trends for each calendar month, only the Southern Ocean showed a consistent increase in surface winds for at least three continuous months. Although altimeter trends are consistently stronger than trends from ...