Surface wind variability on spatial scales from 1 to 1000 km observed during TOGA COARE

Near-surface wind spectra are considered from three very different data sou rces, covering a range of spatial scales from 10(0) to 10(3) km. The data w ere observed during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmo sphere Response Experiment intensive observation period spanning November 1 992 to February 1993. Spectra are examined from low-resolution yet spatiall y and temporally complete National Centers for Environmental Prediction rea nalysis wind fields, moderate resolution satellite-based ERS-1 scatteromete r winds, and high-resolution aircraft observations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Electra. Combined spectra (kinetic energy vs wave number k) from these data demonstrate a power-law relation over the entire range in spatial scales, with a best-fit slope very near k(-5/3). Energy sp ectra for subsets of the dam support spectral slopes of k(-5/3) and k(-2), but there is little evidence for a slope of k(-3).