Hellerman and Rosenstein Global Wind Stress Data

This data set contains monthly averaged wind stress over the global ocean for the years 1870 through 1976. The data are given on a 2 deg latitude x 2 deg longitude grid. Monthly data for each month of the averaged years of the period include zonal and meridional Wind_U Stress and Wind_V Stress. The unit of measurement for the wind stress variables is dynes/cm**2. Over 35 million surface observations covering the world ocean from 1870-1976 have been processed for the purpose of calculating monthly normals and standard errors of the eastward and northward components of the wind stress and work done by the winds in the lower 10 m of the atmosphere. The fields are intended to serve as boundary conditions for models of ocean circulation.