Surface winds in the Euro-Mediterranean area: the real resolution of numerical grids

Surface wind is a variable of great importance in forcing marine waves and circulations, modulating surface fluxes, etc. Surface wind defined on numerical grids is currently used in forecast-analysis, as well as in climatology. Gridded fields, however, suffer for systematic errors associated with the numerical procedures adopted in computing them. In this paper the climatology of surface wind produced by three different numerical models in the European-Mediterranean area is analyzed. The systematic loss of power at the smallest grid-scales appears in the power spectrum of all the different models. Some prototype numerical integrations show that this systematic over-smoothing is due to numerical stabilization operators that represent the main source of the diagnosed error; the error progression in space and time is also analyzed. Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (Mesoscale meteorology; Ocean-atmosphere interaction; Climatology)