Global oceanic wind speed trends

• The regional and seasonal differences of the global oceanic wind speed trends are exhibited firstly.
• We find a significant increasing trend in the global ocean sea surface wind speed for the period 1988–2011.
• A close relationship between the wind field and El Nino phenomenon is found.
• The variation of sea surface wind speed has noticeable regional and seasonal differences.
• Variation of wind speed in different waters is dominated by the different seasons.

This study presents the regional and seasonal climatic trends of the global oceanic sea surface wind speed for the period 1988–2011 using Cross-Calibrated, Multi-Platform (CCMP) wind data. The relationship between important factors (nino3 and soi index) and occurrences of wind speed is also calculated, in hope of providing references for the analysis of global climate change, development of offshore wind energy resources, air–sea interactions, and the basic reference helping for the mid-long term prediction of sea surface wind speed and occurrences of wind speed. The analysis results show that (1) The global oceanic sea-surface wind speeds increased at a significant overall rate of 3.35 cm s−1 yr−1 for the period 1988–2011; the maximal rate of increase, 4.15 cm s−1 yr−1, was attained between 1991 and 2007. (2) Globally, the sea-surface wind speeds significantly increased from 1988 to 2011. Only a few sporadic small water bodies exhibited decreasing wind speeds without significant variation over the 24-year interval. (3) The sea-surface wind speeds displayed obvious regional variability. The increasing wind speeds were more noticeable over the Pacific low-latitude waters than over waters of higher latitude. Wind speeds trends over the western Atlantic waters were stronger than those over the eastern Atlantic waters, while the south Indian Ocean winds were stronger than that those over the north Indian Ocean. (4) The variation in sea-surface wind speeds demonstrated noticeable seasonal differences. The increasing wind speed trend over the winter hemisphere was stronger than the one over the summer hemisphere. The variation in wind speeds over different waters was seasonally dominated. The increasing trend over the coastal waters of southern Greenland was dominated by the MAM and SON, was dominated by DJF in the Davis Strait and the Mediterranean, and was dominated by the SON 10° N over the Pacific Ocean and over the high-latitude waters in the southern Indian Ocean.