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Facilitating Access to Global Observing Systems Data and Information

GCOS Atmospheric Surface ECV*
Wind Speed & Direction

*over land, sea and ice

  • Definition: Wind Speed is the ratio of the distance covered by the air to the time taken to cover it. The instantaneous speed corresponds to the case of an infinitely small time interval. The mean speed corresponds to the case of a finite time interval. It is one component of wind velocity, the other being wind direction). (From the AMS Glossary of Meteorology)
  • Specific Issues
  • Atmospheric Surface Domain
  • Satellite Observations

Data, Product, Metadata and Information Access
[ECV Matrix Main Page] [About the ECV Matrix] [Reference Documents] [Contact] [Updated June 8, 2011]

Non-satellite or in-situ Satellite
  • Global Surface Summary of Day Data (GSOD) (NOAA/NCDC) is produced by the NOAA/NCDC. The input data used in building these daily summaries are the Integrated Surface Data (ISD), which includes global data obtained from the USAF Climatology Center. The latest daily summary data are normally available 1-2 days after the date-time of the observations used in the daily summaries.  The online data files begin with 1929, and are now at the Version 7 software level.  Over 9000 stations' data are typically available.  Includes GSN data submitted by GTS but not by individual countries (variables) (data access) (metadata) (station list) (data documentation) (contact)
  • Monthly Wind Climatology Data & Maps for the contiguous USA (1950 to present) (NOAA/NCDC)This product provides a spatially and temporally continuous wind climatology for the contiguous U.S. on a monthly basis from January 1950 to present. It uses NCEP Reanalysis wind data (Kalnay et al. 1996). Reanalysis data are based upon observed conditions, and a physical model is used to account for any gaps between stations and time steps. The NCEP dataset was chosen for its long period of record and its availability only a few days after the end of a month. The U.S. Department of Energy has outlined a plan for 20 percent of U.S. electricity production to be from wind by 2030, and having a temporally and spatially continuous wind dataset, updated on a monthly basis, will be beneficial to understanding wind trends nationwide. The goal of this product is to provide information on the variability and trend of wind on a monthly basis and on a regional scale. It is not intended to assist in the diagnosis of the availability of wind resources at particular locations. These types of decisions are on finer scales and involve more detailed analysis than this product alone can provide. (map access) (U & V component data) (metadata) (data documentation) ( contact )
  • Tropical Moored Buoys Data (TAO/TRITON (Pacific); PIRATA (Atlantic); and RAMA (Indian Ocean) Arrays (NOAA/NDBC) The TAO array became the TAO/TRITON array on 1 January 2000. This name change recognizes the introduction of TRITON (Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network) buoys in the western Pacific by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). TRITON buoys have replaced ATLAS buoys at 12 sites along 137°E, 147°E, and 156°E beginning in 1999 as indicated in the table below. TRITON has been implemented in close collaboration with TAO under the auspices of CLIVAR, GOOS, and GCOS. TRITON buoys are serviced by the Japanese research vessel MIRAI. The TAO Project at NOAA / PMEL worked closely with the TRITON project at JAMSTEC to maximize consistency in sensor types and sampling schemes between TAO and TRITON buoys. TAO and TRITON buoys were also deployed side-by-side at several sites in the western Pacific for six month to one year check-out periods in 1998-99 to assure that parameters were consistently being measured by the two buoy systems. Finally, JAMSTEC and PMEL have worked together to assure that the TRITON buoy data are subject to free, open, and timely exchange. The combined TAO/TRITON data are managed and distributed as a unified and integrated data set by the TAO Project. (data access) (metadata)(data documentation) (contact)
  • Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) Observations (NOAA/NDBC) Volunteer crew members on nearly 1,000 ships around the world observe the weather at their location, encode each observation in a standard format, and send the data over satellite or radio to the many national meteorological services that have responsibility for marine weather forecasts. The US VOS Project services about one quarter of the world's VOS fleet, providing ships' crews with weather observer training, handbooks and forms, observation encoding software, barometer calibration, the Mariners Weather Log, and weather observing tools. Located in the major ports around the country, Port Meteorological Officers are the VOS Project's field representatives and primary points of contact for ships. (variables) (data access) (metadata) (data documentation) (Program Information) (contact)
  • ASCAT on MetOP New-generation European instruments carried on MetOp and will be used to determine information about the wind for use primarily in weather forecasting and climate research. ASCAT uses radar to measure the electromagnetic backscatter from the wind-roughened ocean surface, from which data on wind speed and direction can be derived. The measuring principle relies on the fact that winds over the sea cause small-scale disturbances of the sea surface, which modify its radar backscattering characteristics in a particular way. These backscattering properties are well known and are dependent on both the wind speed over the sea and the direction of the wind with respect to the point from which the sea surface is observed. (global measurement of sea surface wind vectors and provides quasi-global coverage within 24 hours) (data access) (metadata) (video: winds over sea cause disturbance of the sea surface) (animations) (data documentation) (instrument information) ( contact )
  • SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/ Imager) on board the US DMSP satellites is currently providing operational surface wind data (data access) (metadata) (data documentation) ( contact )
  • NASA/JAXA AMSR-E on Aqua Satellite (launched in 2002) also provides data on sea surface wind speed (data access) (metadata) (data documentation) ( contact )