Wind‑Speed Variability from Tropopause to Surface

Dear Colleagues,

Tropospheric winds knit together the atmosphere from the tropopause’s jet‑stream corridors and the turbulence‑rich atmospheric surface layer. Variations in wind speed across this vertical column regulate moisture transport, cloud formation, boundary‑layer mixing, and the distribution of heat, aerosols, and pollutants. Resolving how wind speed changes with height and location is therefore crucial for accurate weather prediction, climate‑system understanding, renewable‑energy planning, and impact assessment. Despite major advances in observing systems, reanalyses, and high‑resolution modeling, key gaps remain in quantifying multiscale wind speed variability and its drivers, especially under accelerating climate change. This Special Issue gathers interdisciplinary studies that define, explain, and predict wind‑speed variability extending continuously from the tropopause down to Earth’s surface. By integrating theory, observation, and modeling, this collection will illuminate physical mechanisms, emerging trends, and practical consequences of vertical wind speed structure, fully supporting the journal’s mission to advance holistic climate and atmospheric science.

We invite original research articles, comprehensive reviews, technical notes, data descriptors, and perspective pieces that feature wind speed explicitly, including, but not limited to, the following: long‑term reanalysis and paleoclimate reconstructions of global and regional wind‑speed trends; extreme wind speed events, gust climatology, and probabilistic hazard assessment; mesoscale and large‑eddy simulations resolving vertical wind speed structure in jet streaks, convective downdrafts, and boundary‑layer turbulence; machine learning or data assimilation techniques for retrieving or gap‑filling satellite, radar, and lidar wind speed observations; the attribution of observed wind speed changes to anthropogenic forcing or natural modes of variability; the downscaling of CMIP6 wind speed projections for wind‑energy siting and infrastructure resilience; and the impacts of wind speed variability on ocean circulation, ecosystem dynamics, aviation operations, urban air quality, and socio‑economic risk. Submissions that apply novel tools, provide cross‑disciplinary perspectives, or locate present and future wind‑speed variability within a broader climatic context are especially welcome.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Meteorology.

Dr. Zhi-Bo Li
Prof. Dr. Paul Williams
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Climate is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• wind speed variability
• tropopause and jet‑stream dynamics
• boundary layer turbulence
• extreme wind gusts
• model evaluations and projections
• wind energy resource
• reanalysis and paleoclimate winds
• data assimilation and machine learning