Technical Evaluation of Constructing Wind and Wave Climatologies Using Spaceborne Altimeter Output with a Demonstration Study in the Yellow and East China Seas

摘要

The density of data output from spaceborne altimeters is an impressive 7-km alongtrack. This is an excellent data source to the study of global and regional wind and wave conditions. A technical evaluation of constructing regional climatologies of winds and waves is presented. The accuracy of the measurements is summarized from several earlier comparison studies. The results indicate that the wind speeds and wave heights measured by satellite altimeters are of outstanding quality. For the construction of a regional climatology, the spatial resolution (grid size) and temporal resolution (time bin) are important considerations. Our analysis indicates that from a single satellite seasonal statistics with 1 degree resolution can be achieved. With combined satellite output, monthly climatologies with 0.25 degree resolution is possible. A demonstration study is presented for the region of Yellow and East China Seas using the TOPEX output. The results show significant temporal and spatial structure of the wind and wave distributions in the region. Four distinct domains of winds and waves can be defined for the area defined by (115 degree E, 20 degree N) and (130 degree E, 42 degree N): the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the Kuroshio, and South of Ryukyu Islands. The distinction of each area is outlined.