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One‐ to two‐month oscillations in SSMI surface wind speed in western tropical Pacific Ocean
Author(s) -
Collins Michael L.,
Stanford John L.,
Halpern David
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/94gl02439
Subject(s) - climatology , wind speed , special sensor microwave/imager , geology , scatterometer , meteorology , environmental science , brightness temperature , brightness , oceanography , geography , physics , astronomy
The 10‐m wind speed over the ocean can be estimated from microwave brightness temperature measurements recorded by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) instrument mounted on a polar‐orbiting spacecraft. Four‐year (1988–1991) time series of average daily 1° × 1° SSMI wind speeds were analyzed at selected sites in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. One‐ to two‐month period wind speed oscillations with amplitudes statistically significant at the 95% confidence level were observed near Kanton, Eniwetok, Guam, and Truk. This is the first report of such an oscillation in SSMI wind speeds.