The MetOffice (specifically Mary Forsythe) has demonstrated that the DB MODIS polar winds are similar in quality and number to the "bent-pipe" winds, but are available significantly faster (approximately 100 minutes). Here are two examples, one for Aqua data in the Southern Hemisphere, and one for Terra data in the Northern Hemisphere. Both are for mid-level, water vapor winds. The plots are for data from McMurdo, Antarctica, and Tromso, Norway in the late 2006. Each plot shows the speed bias, the vector RMS, the lag time in receiving the data, and the number of wind vectors in the DB and bent-pipe data sets.