Evaluation of surface wind over the western North Pacific simulated by CMIP5 global and CORDEX regional climate models

Surface winds have influence not only on turbulent heat fluxes but also on ocean waves and coastal erosion. Projection of surface winds is thus necessary to prepare for the future changes in coastal regions due to climate change. While global climate models have been widely used for the studies on climate change and impacts, regional climate models—having higher resolution—are more suitable to provide the climate change information on a regional scale. As a priori of a future projection with the models, this study aims to evaluate the wind direction as well as the speed over the western North Pacific simulated by the CORDEX-EA (Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment for East Asia) regional models in addition to the CMIP5 (fifth phase of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) global models. Furthermore, we will compare the different sets of observational data from the most commonly used global reanalysis provided by ECMWF and NCEP and also from QuikSCAT satellite-measurement having discussion on the data uncertainty besides the model evaluation.