Identification

Title

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

Alternative title(s)

d744004

Abstract

<p> 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> CAUTION: This blended wind product was developed for general circulation scale analyses - see <a href="https://rda.ucar.edu/datasets/ds744.4/docs/Blended_Winds_Caution">these cautionary notes</a>. The blending methodology is summarized in <a href="https://rda.ucar.edu/datasets/ds744.4/docs/Blended_Winds_Summary">this document</a>. </p> <p> <font color="red"> NOTE: The QSCAT satellite has permanent failed so this data time series has ended. </font> </p>

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://gdex.ucar.edu/datasets/d744004/

protocol: https

name: Dataset Description

description: Related Link

function: information

https://gdex.ucar.edu/datasets/d744004/dataaccess/

protocol: https

name: Data Access

description: Related Link

function: download

Unique resource identifier

code

codeSpace

Dataset language

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

oceans

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

dataset

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2021-03-30

Keyword set

keyword value

GRIDDING METHODS

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2025-10-03

Keyword set

keyword value

SCATTEROMETERS > SCATTEROMETERS

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2025-10-03

Keyword set

keyword value

EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > WIND STRESS

EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > SURFACE WINDS

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2025-10-03

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

1999-07

End position

2009-07-31

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2001-02-26

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

email address

datahelp@ucar.edu

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

email address

datahelp@ucar.edu

web address

https://gdex.ucar.edu

name: NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

description: The Geoscience Data Exchange (GDEX), managed by the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at NSF NCAR, contains a large collection of meteorological, atmospheric composition, and oceanographic observations, and operational and reanalysis model outputs, integrated with NSF NCAR High Performance Compute services to support atmospheric and geosciences research.

function: download

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2025-10-09T01:29:20Z

Metadata language