Surface Stress

atmosphereECV · GCOS Tier 1surface
Momentum flux from the atmosphere to the land surface (wind stress over land), derived from scatterometer winds and reanalysis. The atmosphere-side ECV; the ocean-side counterpart is tracked separately as `ocean-surface-stress`. Drives near-surface wind profiles, boundary- layer turbulence, and aerodynamic resistance for land-surface models.
Canonical units: Pa