QSCAT/NCEP Blended Ocean Winds from Colorado Research Associates (version 5.0)

Ocean surface wind data are derived from spatial blending of high-resolution
satellite data (SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite - QSCAT) and
global weather center re-analyses (NCEP), resulting in high temporal and spatial
resolution datasets (6-hourly, and 0.5 by 0.5 degree) of u- and v- wind vector
components and windstress curl. The global coverage datasets begin in
July 1999 and ends in July 2009.


Surface wind component and wind stress curl fields are available in three forms:
1) a product that is the blended wind field output, 2) fields consisting of the
NCEP re-analyses spline interpolated to the 0.5 by 0.5 degree grid (i.e. no QSCAT data blended), and 3)
a product that is output from an intermediate step in the blending process that
consists of the superposition of QSCAT observations on NCEP before blending.
This product is useful to identify the satellite data swaths in each composite
of 12-hours of QSCAT observations.


CAUTION: This blended wind product was developed for general circulation scale
analyses - see these cautionary notes. The blending methodology is summarized in this document.



NOTE: The QSCAT satellite has permanent failed so this data time series has ended.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • datahelp@ucar.edu

Temporal Range

  • Begin:  1999-07
    End:  2009-07-31

Keywords

Resource Type dataset
Temporal Range Begin 1999-07
Temporal Range End 2009-07-31
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links

Related Resource #1 : NASA JPL PO.DAAC

Related Resource #2 : The re-analyses winds are from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis project

Additional Information N/A
Resource Format Binary
Standardized Resource Format Binary
Asset Size 44675.933 MB
Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization N/A
Distributor NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

Author Northwest Research Associates, Inc.
Publisher NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
Publication Date 2001-02-26
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.5065/XQYC-1602
Alternate Identifier d744004
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category oceans
Progress completed
Metadata Date 2025-10-09T01:29:20Z
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.gdex::d744004
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Northwest Research Associates, Inc.. (2001). QSCAT/NCEP Blended Ocean Winds from Colorado Research Associates (version 5.0). NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/XQYC-1602. Accessed 12 October 2025.

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