Impact of Satellite Data Assimilation in Atmospheric Reanalysis on the Marine Wind and Wave Climate
Abstract This study investigated the impact of assimilating satellite data into atmospheric reanalyses on trends in ocean surface winds and waves. Two experiments were performed using a numerical wave model forced by near-surface winds: one derived from the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55; experiment A) and the other derived from JRA-55 using assimilated conventional observations only (JRA-55C; experiment B). The results showed that the satellite data assimilation reduced upward trends of the annual mean of wave energy flux (WEF) in the midlatitude North Pacific and southern ocean (30°–60°S), south of Australia, from 1959 to 2012. It was also found that the assimilation of scatterometer winds reduced the near-surface wind speed in the midlatitude North Pacific after the mid-1990s, which resulted in the reduced trend in WEF from 1959 to 2012. By contrast, assimilation of the satellite radiances for 1973–94 increased near-surface wind speed in the southern ocean, south of Australia, whereas the assimilation of the scatterometer winds after the mid-1990s reduced wind speed. The latter led to the reduced trend in WEF south of Australia from 1959 to 2012.