Comparison of low-level satellite winds and surface winds observed by research ships during summer MONEX-1979

Abstract

During summer MONEX-1979, surface winds and satellite-derived low-level cloud drift winds were obtained from Russian research ships and GOES (I-O) satellite respectively. The winds observed at the stationary positions of the ships were averaged for 06 and 12 GMT, since the satellite winds derived by the University of Wisconsin group in U.S.A. referred to 0930- 1030 GMT observations. Average direction and speed differences between satellite-derived low-level cloud drift winds and ship winds were 19 deg. and 1.3 m/s. The fitted linear regression equations for wind speed and wind direction explain 71% and 87% of total variance whereas linear regression equations for u and v component explain 86% and 49%of total variance. Though the relationship between these two wind measurements assures 95% confidence in predicting surface winds from satellite-derived low-level cloud drift winds a further study is required as our study is based on -the limited data and restricted areal coverage of observational platforms of stationary ships during summer MONEX-1979.