• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2008

Several validation studies have been made for QuikSCAT(QSCAT) wind data around the world, mainly in the offshore. However, until now, there were no validation studies for QSCAT wind with resolution of 12.5 km ('QSCAT 12.5 km wind') in the vicinity of Korean Peninsula. To validate 'QSCAT 12.5 km wind' and to investigate its characteristics around Korean Peninsula, the wind data from Ieodo Ocean Research Station, KMA buoys, and KORDI Realtime Observation Stations have been compared. Validation results showed that 'QSCAT 12.5 km wind' RMSE of wind direction and speed were $25.85^{\circ}$ and 1.83 m/s, respectively, at Ieodo Station. The mean wind speed correlation coefficient of KMA buoys and KORDI Realtime Observation Station were 0.78 and 0.61, and the mean wind speed RMSE were 2.2 m/s and 3.2 m/s, respectively. This seems to be mainly because of the distance between QSCAT and in-situ observation stations. The RMSE of wind direction were bigger than $40^{\circ}$ at all in-situ observation stations located near the shore, within 20 km from coastlines. Geophysical features where in-situ observation stations are located seem to affect wind validation scores.