Other Names
Wind, Wind Speed, Zonal wind, Meridional Wind, u & v Flux, Surface stress velocity
Definition
Air in motion relative to the surface of the Earth.
Since vertical components of atmospheric motion are relatively small, especially near the surface of the earth, meteorologists use the term to denote almost exclusively the horizontal component. Meridional flow is the atmospheric flow in which north south component (i.e. longitudinal, or along a meridian) is pronounced relative to the zonal (east-west) component. The equatorial easterlies, tropical (trade winds) and polar easterlies blow from the east. The westerlies represent the dominant west-to-east motion of the atmosphere centered over the 35-65 degree latituded bands of both hemispsheres.
Applications
| (1) Weather Forecast and Data Assimilation Models | (4) Aviation Flight Planning |
| (2) Air-Sea Interactio | (5) Naval and Military Operations |
| (3) Transport of Air Pollutants | (6) Climate Change |
GES DISC Datasets
Quick Search for 'Atmospheric & Surface Winds' with Mirador
Click on the corresponding 'Data access' links in the table below to access products containing specific parameter.
| Begin Date | End Date | Data Access | Doc |
(1) zonal (u) and meridional(v) wind speed profiles(at 18 and 20 pressure levels)
(2)U and V at 2 m and 10 m
(3)surface wind speed
(4)surface stress velocity | m/sec | NOAA/TOVS | 1978-11-30 | 1995-07-05 | NOAA/TOVS | Y |
| Zonal and meridional wind profiles (35 pressure levels covering 10 - 125 km) | m/sec | UARS/HRDI | 1991-11-06 | 1999-01-30 | UARHR3AT | Y |
| UARHR3AL | Y |
Zonal and meridional wind profiles
(50 pressure levels covering 22 - 400 km) | m/sec | UARS/WINDII | 1991-11-04 | 1997-08-19 | UARWI3AT | Y |
| UARWI3AL | Y |
| Vertical Velocity (omega), Meridional and Zonal wind Profiles | m/sec | UARS/Correlative | 1991-11-04 | 1997-08-19 | UARZCUKM | Y |
| UARZCNMC | Y |
Other sources for data
Atmos Composition
