Abstract: Sea surface winds from reanalysis (NCEP-2 and ERA-40 datasets) and satellite-based products (QuikSCAT and NCDC blended sea winds) are evaluated using in situ ship measurements from the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions (CHINAREs) from 1989 through 2006, with emphasis on the Southern Ocean (south of 45°S). Compared with ship observations, the reanalysis winds have a positive mean bias (0.32 m?s-1 for NCEP-2 and 0.13 m?s-1 for ERA-40), and this bias is more pronounced in the Southern Ocean (0.57 m?s-1 and 0.45 m?s-1, respectively). However, mean biases are negative in the tropics and subtropics. The satellite-based winds also show positive mean biases, larger than those of the reanalysis data. All four wind products overestimate ship wind speed for weak winds (<4 m?s-1) but underestimate for strong winds (>10 m?s-1). Differences between the reanalysis and satellite winds are examined to identify regions with large discrepancies.

Key words: Sea surface winds, NCEP-2, ERA-40, QuikSCAT, NCDC blended sea winds, Southern Ocean