Coral Sr/Ca provides a well-established proxy for sea surface temperature (SST) (e.g.,

Tropical sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS), variables driven by large-scale oceanic-atmospheric interactions, are recorded in the stable oxygen isotopic ratio of coral skeletal aragonite (δ 18 O coral ). Coral δ 18 O values thus preserve key information on past ocean-atmosphere variability on interannual to centennial timescales, such as the interannual El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Indo-Pacific (e.g.,

Climate observations in much of the tropical oceans are scarce during most of the 20th century, so paleoclimate proxies are needed to understand the full range of natural climate variability. Past proxy studies have focused primarily on sea surface temperatures, but there are comparatively few salinity reconstructions. Such reconstructions can extend our understanding of hydroclimate across the tropical oceans, including variability in precipitation, evaporation, and ocean circulation. Here we compile a network of salinity‐sensitive coral δ18O records, then apply a reduced‐space method based on empirical orthogonal function analysis to reconstruct annual tropical salinity anomalies over the 20th century. A comparison of surface salinity data sets, including reanalyzes (SODA2/3, Ocean ReAnalysis System 5 (ORAS5), Global Ocean Data Assimilation System) and objective analyses (Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), EN4, Delcroix), show large discrepancies in the spatial structure, temporal evolution, and importance of the leading modes of variability. Two salinity data sets, IAP and ORAS5, are retained for climate reconstruction. Our coral‐based salinity reconstructions reveal significant long‐term trends over the 20th century, which are likely associated with hydrological cycle intensification and possibly a weakening of the Walker Circulation. These reconstructions also capture the spatial and temporal patterns of salinity anomalies associated with the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Ultimately, this approach can enhance our understanding of tropical hydroclimate prior to the observational era.

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