Articles | Volume 9, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1727-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1727-2024
Research article
 | 
19 Aug 2024
Research article |  | 19 Aug 2024

Underestimation of strong wind speeds offshore in ERA5: evidence, discussion and correction

Rémi Gandoin and Jorge Garza

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Alday, M., Accensi, M., Ardhuin, F., and Dodet, G.: A global wave parameter database for geophysical applications, Part 3: Improved forcing and spectral resolution, Ocean Model., 166, 101848–10167, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101848, 2021. 
Araújo da Silva, M. P., Rocadenbosch, F., Farré-Guarné, J., Salcedo-Bosch, A., González-Marco, D., and Peña, A.: Assessing Obukhov Length and Friction Velocity from Floating Lidar Observations: A Data Screening and Sensitivity Computation Approach, Remote Sens., 14, 1394, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14061394, 2022. 
Ayet, A. and Chapron, B.: The dynamical coupling of wind-waves and atmospheric turbulence: a review of theoretical and phenomenological models, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 183, 1–33, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-021-00666-6, 2022. 
Bentamy, A., Grodsky, S. A., Cambon, G., Tandeo, P., Capet, X., Roy, C., Herbette, S., and Grouazel, A.: Twenty-Seven Years of Scatterometer Surface Wind Analysis over Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems, Remote Sens., 13, 940, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13050940, 2021. 
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Short summary
ERA5 has become the workhorse of most wind resource assessment applications, as it compares better with in situ measurements than other reanalyses. However, for design purposes, ERA5 suffers from a drawback: it underestimates strong wind speeds offshore (approx. from 10 m s−1). This is not widely discussed in the scientific literature. We address this bias and proposes a simple, robust correction. This article supports the growing need for use-case-specific validations of reanalysis datasets.
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