scholarly journals Response of Freshwater Flux and Sea Surface Salinity to Variability of the Atlantic Warm Pool

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1249-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunzai Wang ◽  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Sang-Ki Lee
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Atlantic Warm Pool ◽  
Mean Circulation ◽  
Circulation Dynamics

Abstract The response of freshwater flux and sea surface salinity (SSS) to the Atlantic warm pool (AWP) variations from seasonal to multidecadal time scales is investigated by using various reanalysis products and observations. All of the datasets show a consistent response for all time scales: A large (small) AWP is associated with a local freshwater gain (loss) to the ocean, less (more) moisture transport across Central America, and a local low (high) SSS. The moisture budget analysis demonstrates that the freshwater change is dominated by the atmospheric mean circulation dynamics, while the effect of thermodynamics is of secondary importance. Further decomposition points out that the contribution of the mean circulation dynamics primarily arises from its divergent part, which mainly reflects the wind divergent change in the low level as a result of SST change. In association with a large (small) AWP, warmer (colder) than normal SST over the tropical North Atlantic can induce anomalous low-level convergence (divergence), which favors anomalous ascent (decent) and thus generates more (less) precipitation. On the other hand, a large (small) AWP weakens (strengthens) the trade wind and its associated westward moisture transport to the eastern North Pacific across Central America, which also favors more (less) moisture residing in the Atlantic and hence more (less) precipitation. The results imply that variability of freshwater flux and ocean salinity in the North Atlantic associated with the AWP may have the potential to affect the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.

scholarly journals Assessing Coastal SMAP Surface Salinity Accuracy and Its Application to Monitoring Gulf of Maine Circulation Dynamics

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Semyon Grodsky ◽  
Douglas Vandemark ◽  
Hui Feng
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Contamination Factor ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Sensor Sensitivity ◽  
Ocean Salinity ◽  
Circulation Dynamics

Monitoring the cold and productive waters of the Gulf of Maine and their interactions with the nearby northwestern (NW) Atlantic shelf is important but challenging. Although remotely sensed sea surface temperature (SST), ocean color, and sea level have become routine, much of the water exchange physics is reflected in salinity fields. The recent invention of satellite salinity sensors, including the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer, opens new prospects in regional shelf studies. However, local sea surface salinity (SSS) retrieval is challenging due to both cold SST limiting salinity sensor sensitivity and proximity to land. For the NW Atlantic, our analysis shows that SMAP SSS is subject to an SST-dependent bias that is negative and amplifies in winter and early spring due to the SST-related drop in SMAP sensor sensitivity. On top of that, SMAP SSS is subject to a land contamination bias. The latter bias becomes noticeable and negative when the antenna land contamination factor (LC) exceeds 0.2%, and attains maximum negative values at LC = 0.4%. Coastward of LC = 0.5%, a significant positive land contamination bias in absolute SMAP SSS is evident. SST and land contamination bias components are seasonally dependent due to seasonal changes in SST/winds and terrestrial microwave properties. Fortunately, it is shown that SSS anomalies computed relative to a satellite SSS climatology can effectively remove such seasonal biases along with the real seasonal cycle. SMAP monthly SSS anomalies have sufficient accuracy and applicability to extend nearer to the coasts. They are used to examine the Gulf of Maine water inflow, which displayed important water intrusions in between Georges Banks and Nova Scotia in the winters of 2016/17 and 2017/18. Water intrusion patterns observed by SMAP are generally consistent with independent measurements from the European Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. Circulation dynamics related to the 2016/2017 period and enhanced wind-driven Scotian Shelf transport into the Gulf of Maine are discussed.

scholarly journals Comparison of Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Surface Salinity Gradients Using the Saildrone California/Baja and North Atlantic Gulf Stream Deployments

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo ◽  
Jose Gomez-Valdes ◽  
Marouan Bouali
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Temporal Sampling ◽  
The North

Validation of satellite-based retrieval of ocean parameters like Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) is commonly done via statistical comparison with in situ measurements. Because in situ observations derived from coastal/tropical moored buoys and Argo floats are only representatives of one specific geographical point, they cannot be used to measure spatial gradients of ocean parameters (i.e., two-dimensional vectors). In this study, we exploit the high temporal sampling of the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) Saildrone (i.e., one measurement per minute) and describe a methodology to compare the magnitude of SST and SSS gradients derived from satellite-based products with those captured by Saildrone. Using two Saildrone campaigns conducted in the California/Baja region in 2018 and in the North Atlantic Gulf Stream in 2019, we compare the magnitude of gradients derived from six different GHRSST Level 4 SST (MUR, OSTIA, CMC, K10, REMSS, and DMI) and two SSS (JPLSMAP, RSS40km) datasets. While results indicate strong consistency between Saildrone- and satellite-based observations of SST and SSS, this is not the case for derived gradients with correlations lower than 0.4 for SST and 0.1 for SSS products.

scholarly journals Quality assessment of spaceborne sea surface salinity observations over the northern North Atlantic

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Köhler ◽  
Meike Sena Martins ◽  
Nuno Serra ◽  
Detlef Stammer
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Surface Salinity

scholarly journals Resurfacing of South Pacific Tropical Water in the Equatorial Pacific and Its Variability Associated with ENSO

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1095-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tangdong Qu ◽  
Shan Gao
Keyword(s):  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Tropical Water ◽  
Analysis Of Results ◽  
South Pacific Tropical Water

AbstractAnalysis of results from a simulated passive tracer confirms the resurfacing of South Pacific Tropical Water in the equatorial Pacific. Over the period of integration (1993–2011), both the volume and barycenter of the South Pacific Tropical Water that resurfaces in the equatorial Pacific are tightly linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with their correlation with the Niño-3.4 index reaching −0.79 and 0.84, respectively. Their correlation (−0.75 and 0.85) with the sea surface salinity index, Niño-S34.8, is also high. Of particular interest is that both the volume and barycenter of the resurfacing South Pacific Tropical Water peak earlier than the ENSO indices by about 3 months. On the interannual time scale, the resurfacing of South Pacific Tropical Water may modulate the sea surface salinity in the equatorial Pacific at a rate equivalent to as much as 25% of the surface freshwater flux. The results suggest that the resurfacing of South Pacific Tropical Water directly contributes to the sea surface salinity variability in the equatorial Pacific and potentially plays a role in ENSO evolution.

North Atlantic Sea Surface Salinity, Ice Melting and Abrupt Climatic Changes

1993 ◽  
pp. 623-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Paterne ◽  
Jean-Claude Duplessy ◽  
Laurent Labeyrie ◽  
Maurice Arnold
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Ice Melting ◽  
Surface Salinity

scholarly journals Spatial Scales of Sea Surface Salinity Subfootprint Variability in the SPURS Regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 3996
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Bingham ◽  
Zhijin Li
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Ocean Modeling ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Regional Ocean Modeling System ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
In Situ Data

Subfootprint variability (SFV), or representativeness error, is variability within the footprint of a satellite that can impact validation by comparison of in situ and remote sensing data. This study seeks to determine the size of the sea surface salinity (SSS) SFV as a function of footprint size in two regions that were heavily sampled with in situ data. The Salinity Processes in the Upper-ocean Regional Studies-1 (SPURS-1) experiment was conducted in the subtropical North Atlantic in the period 2012–2013, whereas the SPURS-2 study was conducted in the tropical eastern North Pacific in the period 2016–2017. SSS SFV was also computed using a high-resolution regional model based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). We computed SFV at footprint sizes ranging from 20 to 100 km for both regions. SFV is strongly seasonal, but for different reasons in the two regions. In the SPURS-1 region, the meso- and submesoscale variability seemed to control the size of the SFV. In the SPURS-2 region, the SFV is much larger than SPURS-1 and controlled by patchy rainfall.

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