Systematic error of microwave scatterometer wind related to the basin-scale plankton bloom

Chlorophyll-a concentration derived from satellite ocean color sensor are compared with coincident wind speed difference between microwave scatterometer QuikSCAT product and reanalysis product from the National Center for Environmental Prediction over global oceans. The objective is to explore if a natural surface film, which originates in biological productivity, causes the underestimation of surface wind in scatterometer measurement by damping the small capillary wave through the surface tension. The wind speed difference (Reanalysis wind - QuikSCAT wind) is found to correlate positively with chlorophyll-a over the biologically highly productive areas, especially from intra-seasonal to seasonal time scales, indicating the surface film effect. The wind speed difference increases from ∼-1 m s^-1 to ∼0.5 m s^-1 as chlorophyll-a increases from ∼0.1 mg m^-3 to ∼3 mg m^-3, which is comparable with the results of previous laboratory experiments with artificial oil.