Monthly averages of daily latent heat fluxes over the oceans for February and August 1988 are estimated using a stability-dependent bulk scheme. Daily fluxes are computed from daily SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) wind speeds and EOF-retrieved SSM/I surface humidity, National Meteorological Center sea surface temperatures, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyzed 2-m temperatures. Daily surface specific humidity (Q) is estimated from SSM/I precipitable water of total (W) and a 500-m bottom layer (WB) using an EOF (empirical orthogonal function) method. This method has six W-based categories of EOFs (independent of geographical locations) and is developed using 23 177 FGGE IIb humidity soundings over the global oceans. For 1200 FGGE IIb humidity soundings, the accuracy of EOF-retrieved Q is 0.75 g kg−1 for the case without errors in W and WB, and increases to 1.16 g kg−1 for the case with errors in W and WB. Compared to 342 collocated radiosonde observations, the... Abstract Monthly averages of daily latent heat fluxes over the oceans for February and August 1988 are estimated using a stability-dependent bulk scheme. Daily fluxes are computed from daily SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) wind speeds and EOF-retrieved SSM/I surface humidity, National Meteorological Center sea surface temperatures, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyzed 2-m temperatures. Daily surface specific humidity (Q) is estimated from SSM/I precipitable water of total (W) and a 500-m bottom layer (WB) using an EOF (empirical orthogonal function) method. This method has six W-based categories of EOFs (independent of geographical locations) and is developed using 23 177 FGGE IIb humidity soundings over the global oceans. For 1200 FGGE IIb humidity soundings, the accuracy of EOF-retrieved Q is 0.75 g kg−1 for the case without errors in W and WB, and increases to 1.16 g kg−1 for the case with errors in W and WB. Compared to 342 collocated radiosonde observations, the...