TY - JOUR
T1 - Wind speed climatology and trends for Australia, 1975-2006
T2 - Capturing the stilling phenomenon and comparison with near-surface reanalysis output
AU - McVicar, Tim R.
AU - Van Niel, Thomas G.
AU - Li, Ling Tao
AU - Roderick, Michael L.
AU - Rayner, David P.
AU - Ricciardulli, Lucrezia
AU - Donohue, Randall J.
PY - 2008/10/28
Y1 - 2008/10/28
N2 - Near-surface wind speeds (u) measured by terrestrial anemometers show declines (a 'stilling') at a range of midlatitude sites, but two gridded u datasets (a NCEP/NCAR reanalysis output and a surface-pressure-based u model) have not reproduced the stilling observed at Australian stations. We developed Australia-wide 0.01° resolution daily u grids by interpolating measurements from an expanded anemometer network for 1975-2006. These new grids represented the magnitude and spatial-variability of observed u trends, whereas grids from reanalysis systems (NCEP/NCAR, NCEP/DOE and ERA40) essentially did not, even when minimising the sea-breeze impact. For these new grids, the Australian-averaged u trend for 1975-2006 was -0.009 rn s-1 a-1 (agreeing with earlier site-based studies) with stilling over 88% of the land-surface. This new dataset can be used in numerous environmental applications, including benchmarking general circulation models to improve the representation of key parameters that govern u estimation. The methodology implemented here can be applied globally.
AB - Near-surface wind speeds (u) measured by terrestrial anemometers show declines (a 'stilling') at a range of midlatitude sites, but two gridded u datasets (a NCEP/NCAR reanalysis output and a surface-pressure-based u model) have not reproduced the stilling observed at Australian stations. We developed Australia-wide 0.01° resolution daily u grids by interpolating measurements from an expanded anemometer network for 1975-2006. These new grids represented the magnitude and spatial-variability of observed u trends, whereas grids from reanalysis systems (NCEP/NCAR, NCEP/DOE and ERA40) essentially did not, even when minimising the sea-breeze impact. For these new grids, the Australian-averaged u trend for 1975-2006 was -0.009 rn s-1 a-1 (agreeing with earlier site-based studies) with stilling over 88% of the land-surface. This new dataset can be used in numerous environmental applications, including benchmarking general circulation models to improve the representation of key parameters that govern u estimation. The methodology implemented here can be applied globally.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58249085975&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2008GL035627
DO - 10.1029/2008GL035627
M3 - Article
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 35
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 20
M1 - L20403
ER -