scholarly journals Sea surface salinity variability from a simplified mixed layer model of the global ocean

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Michel ◽  
B. Chapron ◽  
J. Tournadre ◽  
N. Reul

Abstract. A bi-dimensional mixed layer model (MLM) of the global ocean is used to investigate the sea surface salinity (SSS) balance and variability at daily to seasonal scales. Thus a simulation over an average year is performed with daily climatological forcing fields. The forcing dataset combines air-sea fluxes from a meteorological model, geostrophic currents from satellite altimeters and in situ data for river run-offs, deep temperature and salinity. The model is based on the "slab mixed layer" formulation, which allows many simplifications in the vertical mixing representation, but requires an accurate estimate for the Mixed Layer Depth. Therefore, the model MLD is obtained from an original inversion technique, by adjusting the simulated temperature to input sea surface temperature (SST) data. The geographical distribution and seasonal variability of this "effective" MLD is validated against an in situ thermocline depth. This comparison proves the model results are consistent with observations, except at high latitudes and in some parts of the equatorial band. The salinity balance can then be analysed in all the remaining areas. The annual tendency and amplitude of each of the six processes included in the model are described, whilst providing some physical explanations. A map of the dominant process shows that freshwater flux controls SSS in most tropical areas, Ekman transport in Trades regions, geostrophic advection in equatorial jets, western boundary currents and the major part of subtropical gyres, while diapycnal mixing leads over the remaining subtropical areas and at higher latitudes. At a global scale, SSS variations are primarily caused by horizontal advection (46%), then vertical entrainment (24%), freshwater flux (22%) and lateral diffusion (8%). Finally, the simulated SSS variability is compared to an in situ climatology, in terms of distribution and seasonal variability. The overall agreement is satisfying, which confirms that the salinity balance is reliable. The simulation exhibits stronger gradients and higher variability, due to its fine resolution and high frequency forcing. Moreover, the SSS variability at daily scale can be investigated from the model, revealing patterns considerably different from the seasonal cycle. Within the perspective of the future satellite missions dedicated to SSS retrieval (SMOS and Aquarius/SAC-D), the MLM could be useful for determining calibration areas, as well as providing a first-guess estimate to inversion algorithms.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarni Medina-Lopez

<p>The aim of this work is to obtain high-resolution values of sea surface salinity (SSS) and temperature (SST) in the global ocean by using raw satellite data (i.e., without any band data pre-processing or atmospheric correction). Sentinel-2 Level 1-C Top of Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data is used to obtain accurate SSS and SST information. A deep neural network is built to link the band information with in situ data from different buoys, vessels, drifters, and other platforms around the world. The neural network used in this paper includes shortcuts, providing an improved performance compared with the equivalent feed-forward architecture. The in situ information used as input for the network has been obtained from the Copernicus Marine In situ Service. Sentinel-2 platform-centred band data has been processed using Google Earth Engine in areas of 100 m x 100 m. Accurate salinity values are estimated for the first time independently of temperature. Salinity results rely only on direct satellite observations, although it presented a clear dependency on temperature ranges. Results show the neural network has good interpolation and extrapolation capabilities. Test results present correlation coefficients of 82% and 84% for salinity and temperature, respectively. The most common error for both SST and SSS is 0.4 C and 0.4 PSU. The sensitivity analysis shows that outliers are present in areas where the number of observations is very low. The network is finally applied over a complete Sentinel-2 tile, presenting sensible patterns for river-sea interaction, as well as seasonal variations. The methodology presented here is relevant for detailed coastal and oceanographic applications, reducing the time for data pre-processing, and it is applicable to a wide range of satellites, as the information is directly obtained from TOA data.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Guinehut ◽  
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli ◽  
Trang Chau ◽  
Frederic Chevallier ◽  
Daniele Ciani ◽  
...  

<p>Complementary to ocean state estimate provided by modelling/assimilation systems, a multi observations-based approach is available through the MULTI OSERVATIONS (MULTIOBS) Thematic Assembly Center (TAC) of the European Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS).</p><p>CMEMS MULTIOBS TAC proposes products based on satellite & in situ observations and state-of-the-art data fusion techniques. These products are fully qualified and documented and, are distributed through the CMEMS catalogue (http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio). They cover the global ocean for physical and biogeochemical (BGC) variables. They are available in Near-Real-Time (NRT) or as Multi-Year Products (MYP) for the past 28 to 36 years.</p><p>Satellite input observations include altimetry but also sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity as well as ocean color. In situ observations of physical and BGC variables are from autonomous platform such as Argo, moorings and ship-based measurements. Data fusion techniques are based on multiple linear regression method, multidimensional optimal interpolation method or neural networks.</p><p>MULTIOBS TAC provides the following products at global scale:</p><ul><li>3D temperature, salinity and geostrophic current fields, both in NRT and as MYP;</li> <li>2D sea surface salinity and sea surface density fields, both in NRT and as MYP;</li> <li>2D total surface and near-surface currents, both in NRT and as MYP;</li> <li>3D vertical current as MYP;</li> <li>2D surface carbon fields of CO<sub>2</sub> flux (fgCO<sub>2</sub>), pCO<sub>2</sub> and pH as MYP;</li> <li>Nutrient vertical distribution (including nitrate, phosphate and silicate) profiles as MYP;</li> <li>3D Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) fields as MYP.</li> </ul><p>Furthermore, MULTIOBS TAC provides specific Ocean Monitoring Indicators (OMIs), based on the above products, to monitor the global ocean 3D hydrographic variability patterns (water masses) and the global ocean carbon sink.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clovis Thouvenin-Masson ◽  
Jacqueline Boutin ◽  
Jean-Luc Vergely ◽  
Dimitry Khvorostyanov ◽  
Stéphane Tarot

<p>The Centre Aval de Traitement des Données SMOS (CATDS), developped by the CNES in collaboration with the CESBIO and IFREMER, produces and continuously improves SMOS sea surface salinity (SSS) products.</p><p>The aim of this poster is to present the last version of CATDS L3 products developed by the LOCEAN CATDS Expertise Center (CEC-LOCEAN debiased v4, https://www.catds.fr/Products/Available-products-from-CEC-OS/CEC-Locean-L3-Debiased-v4), and to highlight its main improvements with respect to previous version 3.</p><p>The L3 products are available for 9-day and 18-day Gaussian averaging. Both versions 3 and 4 contain a bias correction based on internal consistency of SMOS SSS retrieved in various locations across swath, and on seasonal variability of salinity. The main evolutions of version 4 consist in refining the absolute correction methodology, limiting wind speed to 16m/s, add a refined filtering for sea ice and radio frequency contamination based on SMOS retrieved pseudo dielectric constant, the so-called ACARD (Waldteufel et al. 2004) and an improved sea surface temperature (SST) correction in cold waters based on Dinnat et al. (2019) observed dependency.</p><p>Improvements with respect to version 3 are assessed through systematic validation that consists in two main stages: (1) Comparison with respect to in-situ measurements (repetitive ship transects across Atlantic and Arctic regions, and Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) moorings); (2) Comparison with the In-Situ Analysis System (ISAS) monthly fields (Kolodziejczyk, 2017), in terms of both mean spatial maps and time series of key statistics parameters. The key statistics parameters are computed both over the global ocean and for individual areas of interest. Thus, both the mean spatial patterns and temporal variability in various regions are evaluated.</p><p>Comparisons between the two last versions exposed in this poster are based on relevant examples from this systematic validation: main improvements are observed in high latitudes (over 45° latitude).In the Southern Ocean modification of wind speed filtering and SST correction lead to a decrease in the mean difference between SMOS  and ISAS SSS south of 45S from 0.16+/-0.07 to 0.02+/-0.05pss. Std of the differences and r2 are also improved over global ocean. Statistics obtained with this new version are close to the ones obtained with SMAP RemSS v4 SSS.</p><p> </p><p>Dinnat, E.P.; Le Vine, D.M.; Boutin, J.; Meissner, T.; Lagerloef, G. Remote Sensing of Sea Surface Salinity: Comparison of Satellite and In Situ Observations and Impact of Retrieval Parameters. Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 750.</p><p>Kolodziejczyk Nicolas, Prigent-Mazella Annaig, Gaillard Fabienne (2017). ISAS-15 temperature and salinity gridded fields. SEANOE. https://doi.org/10.17882/52367</p><p>Waldteufel, P., J. L. Vergely, and C. Cot, A modified cardioid model for Processing multiangular radiometric observations, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol.42, issue.5, pp.1059-1063, 2004. DOI : 10.1109/TGRS.2003.821698.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Bingham ◽  
Susannah Brodnitz ◽  
Lisan Yu

Satellite observations of sea surface salinity (SSS) have been validated in a number of instances using different forms of in situ data, including Argo floats, moorings and gridded in situ products. Since one of the most energetic time scales of variability of SSS is seasonal, it is important to know if satellites and gridded in situ products are observing the seasonal variability correctly. In this study we validate the seasonal SSS from satellite and gridded in situ products using observations from moorings in the global tropical moored buoy array. We utilize six different satellite products, and two different gridded in situ products. For each product we have computed seasonal harmonics, including amplitude, phase and fraction of variance (R2). These quantities are mapped for each product and for the moorings. We also do comparisons of amplitude, phase and R2 between moorings and all the satellite and gridded in situ products. Taking the mooring observations as ground truth, we find general good agreement between them and the satellite and gridded in situ products, with near zero bias in phase and amplitude and small root mean square differences. Tables are presented with these quantities for each product quantifying the degree of agreement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 811
Author(s):  
Hao Liu ◽  
Zexun Wei

The variability in sea surface salinity (SSS) on different time scales plays an important role in associated oceanic or climate processes. In this study, we compare the SSS on sub-annual, annual, and interannual time scales among ten datasets, including in situ-based and satellite-based SSS products over 2011–2018. Furthermore, the dominant mode on different time scales is compared using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF). Our results show that the largest spread of ten products occurs on the sub-annual time scale. High correlation coefficients (0.6~0.95) are found in the global mean annual and interannual SSSs between individual products and the ensemble mean. Furthermore, this study shows good agreement among the ten datasets in representing the dominant mode of SSS on the annual and interannual time scales. This analysis provides information on the consistency and discrepancy of datasets to guide future use, such as improvements to ocean data assimilation and the quality of satellite-based data.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1249-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunzai Wang ◽  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Sang-Ki Lee

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.


2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Philipps ◽  
Christine Boone ◽  
Estelle Obligis

Abstract Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) was chosen as the European Space Agency’s second Earth Explorer Opportunity mission. One of the objectives is to retrieve sea surface salinity (SSS) from measured brightness temperatures (TBs) at L band with a precision of 0.2 practical salinity units (psu) with averages taken over 200 km by 200 km areas and 10 days [as suggested in the requirements of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)]. The retrieval is performed here by an inverse model and additional information of auxiliary SSS, sea surface temperature (SST), and wind speed (W). A sensitivity study is done to observe the influence of the TBs and auxiliary data on the SSS retrieval. The key role of TB and W accuracy on SSS retrieval is verified. Retrieval is then done over the Atlantic for two cases. In case A, auxiliary data are simulated from two model outputs by adding white noise. The more realistic case B uses independent databases for reference and auxiliary ocean parameters. For these cases, the RMS error of retrieved SSS on pixel scale is around 1 psu (1.2 for case B). Averaging over GODAE scales reduces the SSS error by a factor of 12 (4 for case B). The weaker error reduction in case B is most likely due to the correlation of errors in auxiliary data. This study shows that SSS retrieval will be very sensitive to errors on auxiliary data. Specific efforts should be devoted to improving the quality of auxiliary data.


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