Definition
Wind is air in motion and is basically a vector quantity with a magnitude (speed) and a direction. Ocean surface stress is another vector quantity closely related to wind; it is the turbulent transfer of momentum between the ocean and the atmosphere. Their different applications are summarized in the section “Scientific significance.”
Introduction
Sailors understand both the importance and the difficulty in obtaining information on wind over oceans. The textbooks still describe global ocean wind distribution in sailor’s terms: the calms of the Doldrums and Horse Latitudes, the steady Trade Winds, and the ferocity of the Roaring Forties. Just a few decades ago, almost all ocean wind measurements came from merchant ships. However, the quality and geographical distribution of these wind reports were uneven. Today, operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) also gives us wind information, but NWP depends on models, which are limited by our knowledge of the physical processes...
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Acknowledgments
This study was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was jointly supported by the Ocean Vector Winds, Ocean Surface Salinity, and Precipitation Measuring Mission Programs of NASA. Wenqing Tang provided valuable assistance.
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Liu, W.T., Xie, X. (2014). Sea Surface Wind/Stress Vector. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_168
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_168
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