The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Institut
Francais Pour la Recherche et l'Exploitation de ia Mer European Remote-Sen
sing Satellite, named IFR2, surface wind velocity data products are compare
d during July 1995 over the Arabian Sea. Substantial differences were found
. The central positions of the maximum isotach were separated by 450 km, an
d the ECMWF maximum isotach was 2 m s(-1) higher than that of IFR2. IFR2 wi
nd components contained about 10 times more variance than ECMWF winds for h
orizontal distances from 50 to 250 km. Along the 8.5 degrees N southern bou
ndary of the Arabian Sea, ECMWF southward Ekman transport was higher than t
hat of IFR2 by an amount that could be observed with current measurements.
The ECMWF and IFR2 difference in upward transport of water into the Ekman l
ayer, computed from wind stress curl, was large enough to measure.