Analysis of wind and wave fields associated with low pressure systems, using ERS-1 altimeter and scatterometer data

The effect of surface waves on the momentum, latent and specific heat for the development of an atmospheric depression is a subject of major concern. Low pressure systems are associated with large gradients of wind speed and sea state, and therefore large gradient of surface fluxes. Because of the sparsity of the in situ data at sea, the spatial distribution of surface winds and sea-states is not well described. Active microwave satellite data provide a large coverage of the ocean and previous studies have demonstrated their potential for the study of surface winds and sea states. In the present paper, the authors present a case study of a well developed low pressure system during which wave heights over 10 meters were observed. Comparison of satellite (altimeter and scatterometer data) and models wind and wave measurements shows the improvement of the field description that satellite data can provide