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The NCEP reanalysis wind fields for a 10-year (1984-1993) period will be compared to the FSU wind products (an in-situ based analyses) for the same time period. Monthly mean pseudo-stress (magnitude of the wind times the component) of the NCEP winds was calculated and climatologies computed. The Florida State pseudo-stress products are monthly means (based on in-situ observations at nominal 20 m height) on a 2° grid for the Pacific and 1° grid for the Indian Ocean. Monthly mean climatologies from the Florida State pseudo-stress products for the Indo-Pacific region were calculated for the same time period. From the monthly vector fields, wind divergence and curl climatologies for both datasets were also calculated. Examination of these two datasets reveals differences in magnitude, variability, and spatial extent of Pacific wind features and variability.
Fields of vector means similarly portray the strong trade winds and generally weaker winds associated with the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). The northeast trades are very similar in areal extent and magnitude. Likewise the southwest monsoon and strengthened southern trades in the Indian ocean are prominent. The NCEP winds are generally larger in magnitude in the southern trades of the Indian and eastern Pacific Oceans.
Comparison of divergence fields indicates FSU analyses of the ITCZ region are more convergent, resulting in more intense north-south gradients in convergence and smaller latitudinal extent than the NCEP product. The FSU analysis shows a larger and more intense narrow band of divergence (and hence stronger cross-equatorial flow) along the equator in the eastern Pacific, but displays weaker divergence in the southeast trades west of South America. In the Indian Ocean, FSU analyses indicate stronger cross-equatorial convergence and larger areas of divergence in the Arabian Sea.
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