Abstract
Sea surface wind (SSW) observations from a newly developed “Black Pearl” wave glider, the Chinese-French Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT), the HY-2A microwave scatterometer, and a recently released high-resolution atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5) are evaluated with respect to in-situ buoy observations (115.46°E, 19.85°N) from the South China Sea. Buoy observations from June to November 2019 are used to evaluate the wind estimates from the different platforms. The comparisons show that the HY-2A and CFOSAT scatterometer wind speeds have mean root mean square errors (RMSEs) of approximately 1.6 and 1.6 m/s, respectively, and the corresponding mean wind direction RMSEs are approximately 19° and 17°, which indicates that these satellite retrievals meet the requirements of design engineering missions. The wind speed and wind direction RMSEs of ERA5 are approximately 1.9 m/s and 33°, respectively. The correlation coefficients between the HY-2A, CFOSAT, and ERA5 wind speeds and the buoy observations are 0.86, 0.85, and 0.84, respectively, and the corresponding coefficients of the wind direction are 0.98, 0.98, and 0.93, respectively, at a 95% confidence level. However, the wind sensor in the wave glider provides relatively poor-quality observations compared with the buoy measurements and has higher wind speed and wind direction RMSEs of 2.9 m/s and 50.1°, respectively. Taylor diagrams are utilized to illustrate comprehensive wind comparisons between the multiplatform observations and buoy observations. The results help identify the basic biases in SSWs among different products and enhance confidence in the future use of SSW data for studies of upper ocean dynamics and climate analysis. Suggestions are also offered to help improve the design of next-generation wave gliders.
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Data Availability Statement
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank National Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS) for HY-2A and CFOSAT scatterometer data, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC) for buoy data, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for ERA5 reanalysis data.
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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42076016), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2019B02814), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFC0213104)
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Liu, Y., Lin, M., Jiang, X. et al. A comparison of multiplatform wind products in the South China Sea during summer and autumn in 2019. J. Ocean. Limnol. 39, 2181–2194 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-020-0207-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-020-0207-2