The Cross‐Calibrated Multiplatform (CCMP) ocean surface wind data set was originally developed by Atlas and coworkers to blend cross‐calibrated satellite winds, in situ data, and wind analyses from numerical weather prediction. CCMP uses a variational analysis method to smoothly blend these data sources into a gap‐free gridded wind estimate every 6 hr. CCMP version 2.0 is currently produced by Remote Sensing Systems using consistently cross‐calibrated satellite winds, in situ data from moored buoys, and background winds from the ERA‐Interim reanalysis. The reanalysis fields are only available after a delay of several months, making it impossible to produce CCMP 2.0 in near real time. Measurements from in situ sources such as moored buoys are also often delayed. To overcome these obstacles and produce a near‐real‐time (NRT) version of CCMP (CCMP‐NRT), two changes are made to the input data sets: The background winds are now the operational 0.25‐degree NCEP analysis winds, and no in situ data are used. This allows CCMP‐NRT to be routinely processed with a latency of less than 48 hr. An intercomparison of the CCMP‐NRT results with CCMP 2.0, and independent measurements from moored buoys shows that CCMP‐NRT provides a modest improvement over the background wind from NCEP in regions where satellite data are available. Analysis shows that the inclusion of in situ measurement in CCMP improves the agreement with these measurements, artificially reducing estimates of the error.

From 11 April to 11 June 2018 a new type of ocean observing platform, the Saildrone surface vehicle, collected data on a round-trip, 60-day cruise from San Francisco Bay, down the U.S. and Mexican coast to Guadalupe Island. The cruise track was selected to optimize the science team’s validation and science objectives. The validation objectives include establishing the accuracy of these new measurements. The scientific objectives include validation of satellite-derived fluxes, sea surface temperatures, and wind vectors and studies of upwelling dynamics, river plumes, air–sea interactions including frontal regions, and diurnal warming regions. On this deployment, the Saildrone carried 16 atmospheric and oceanographic sensors. Future planned cruises (with open data policies) are focused on improving our understanding of air–sea fluxes in the Arctic Ocean and around North Brazil Current rings.

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