Offshore wind data assessment near the Iberian Peninsula over the last 25 years

Abstract

Numerous processes affecting coastal ocean dynamics and water properties occur at the air-sea interface as a result of wind blowing on the ocean surface. In Earth system research, it is crucial to appropriately characterize the ocean surface wind (OSW) field because of its significance in many academic and economic activities. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the most recent OSW datasets based on numerical modeling and remote sensing products in estimating in situ observations along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The results are three-fold: (1) when high temporal resolutions are not necessary, remote sensing products are an excellent choice because they provide reliable OSW estimates; (2) for analyses that require high temporal resolution, numerical weather models are the best choice because they can statistically reproduce the main trend; (3) fifth generation of European ReAnalysis (ERA5) showed that, despite having a lower spatial resolution than the dynamically downscaled weather research and forecasting simulation, it captures the spatial and temporal dynamics and variability of coastal winds and may be used as forcing of the atmosphere-ocean interface modeling without compromising its accuracy.