A comparison of VHF wind profiler observations and the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis over the tropical Pacific

VHF wind profiler measurements of zonal and meridional winds are compared with the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis at sites in the tropical Pacific. By December 1999 the profilers at Darwin, Australia, and Biak, Indonesia, in the western Pacific; Christmas Island, Kiribati, in the central Pacific; and Piura Peru, in the eastern Pacific had collected between 8 and 13 yr of nearly continuous data. While these profilers routinely observe winds up to about 20 km, only winds at Christmas Island are assimilated into the reanalysis. The long period of profiler operation provides an opportunity to study differences between the profiler and reanalysis winds in the equatorial Pacific, a region with geographically sparse observations. Mean and seasonal mean zonal and meridional winds are used to identify differences in the profiler and reanalysis winds. Two potential causes for the discrepancy between profiler and reanalysis winds are identified. The first of these is related to different spatial and temporal characteristics of the reanalysis and profiler data. The second cause is the geographical sparseness of rawinsonde data, and not assimilating wind profiler observations. The closest agreement between the mean and seasonal mean zonal winds was found at Christmas Island, a site at which profiler winds are assimilated. A good agreement between reanalysis and profiler meridional and zonal winds is also shown at Darwin, where nearby rawinsonde observations are available. The poorest agreement was found at Piura (where profiler winds are not assimilated), the closest rawinsonde is almost 2000 km from the profiler site, and topography is not adequately resolved in the reanalysis. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]