Information about surface wind speed from NSCAT
II, combined with temperature and humidity data from AIRS/AMSU/MHS and
MIMR will enable much improved understanding and better estimates of
surface fluxes to be gained from EOS satellites. 
The vertical exchanges of heat, moisture, and energy across the
planetary boundary layer are critical to both the oceanic state and
the atmospheric state. Models of the boundary layer are being combined
with information from satellites such as ERS-1&2, SSM/I microwave
measurements, global weather analyses, and in situ measurements to
estimate surface fluxes and understand their relationship to
atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. For example, in the following
figure we show the surface wind vectors from ERS-1, the surface wind
speed from SSM/I, and the surface pressure map for an incipient
midlatitude storm over the Pacific Ocean. The surface wind speed, the
surface air temperature, and the near surface humidity are all strongly
modulated by the large-scale atmospheric structures in midlatitudes,
and all these changes have significant effects on surface fluxes of
heat, momentum, and moisture. Information about surface wind speed from NSCAT
II, combined with temperature and humidity data from AIRS/AMSU/MHS and
MIMR will enable much improved understanding and better estimates of
surface fluxes to be gained from EOS satellites.