A method is described for calculating ocean wind fields as required by wave and circulation models. Winds at the standard height of ten metres are derived from the Australian region primitive equation atmospheric model using a parametric boundary-layer model. The boundary-layer model consists of an outer similarity layer coupled with a logarithmic surface layer. The model is steady state, horizontally homogeneous and barotropic, but includes a stability-dependent correction to both wind speed and direction. Surface winds derived in this way compare very well with ship observations in the southeast Australian region. Good agreement is also obtained with coastal wind observations, although the model is not applicable over land. Hindcast and analysis-time wind fields are further enhanced by blending them with surface wind observations, using a statistical correction method based on the Gauss-Markov theorem. Erroneous or suspect data are first removed by a quality control procedure which checks the data against both the uncorrected wind field, and against neighbouring data. The resulting corrected wind field generally agrees with unrejected data within the tolerances specified in the statistical correction method. These wind fields represent a 'best' estimate of ocean winds. Ocean forecast models may be more accurately initialised by driving them with corrected winds for an appropriate period before the forecast starts.
McIntosh et al. (Mon,) studied this question.