Introduction

Ocean winds drive the ocean currents, transfer gases, heat, moisture, energy and momentum between the atmosphere and ocean, and, through these processes, influence regional and global climate. In driving the large-scale ocean circulation and small-scale mixing, winds contribute to ocean ecosystems. Hurricanes, typhoons and winter mid-latitude storms present a threat to shipping and coastal regions (Atlas et al., 2011).

Surface winds are the largest source of momentum for the generation of surface waves and basin-scale ocean currents. The oceanic distribution of vector winds determines the height distribution and propagation direction of ocean swell, and allows prediction of the effect of this swell on ships, offshore structures and seacoasts. Because, in regions such as the Southern Hemisphere, surface observations of ocean winds by island weather stations, moored meteorological buoys and ships are sparse, without scatterometers, large areas of ocean would lack wind observations. Scatterometer data are particularly important for improvement of the forecast accuracy in such regions (Chelton et al., 2006). For numerical weather forecasts, Bi et al. (2011) show that the inclusion of these ocean winds leads to improvements in days 4 through 7 of the forecasts.