A Climate Data Record of Near-Surface Over-Ocean Parameters and Air-Sea Fluxes

Abstract:

In this climate data record, we have derived surface and near-surface parameters of wind speed, temperature, and humidity from a combination of satellite observations, with a focus on the use of these variables towards determination of the air-sea turbulent heat fluxes. The dataset is a follow-on to the CDR SeaFlux v 1 dataset, which currently covers the time period of 1988 through 2008, and the variables of sea surface temperature and 10-m temperature, wind speed, and specific humidity at a 3-hourly, 0.25º resolution over the global oceans. These products have been developed for the specific focus of accurate determination of the surface turbulent fluxes. The current dataset is brought forward to short latency (roughly three months) by adding in SSMIS data.

This talk will discuss the additional issues associated with including the much-noisier SSMIS data, comparisons of uncertainties from the time period of the SSMIS as compared to the SSMI era, and an analysis of interannual variability over the time period from 1988 through 2015, including the recent ENSO variability.