Estimation of Surface Freshwater Fluxes in the Arctic Ocean Using Satellite-Derived Salinity

Nichols, Rachel E.; Subrahmanyam, Bulusu

doi:10.1007/s41976-019-00027-5

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Understanding salinity variability is therefore paramount towards understanding global climate. Salinity changes, especially in the surface ocean, are driven mainly by freshwater flux (i.e., evaporation, precipitation, and river runoff), advection, mixing, and entrainment [Da-Allada et al, 2014;Sommer et al, 2015;Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019;Nyadjro et al, 2020]. In the northwestern Gulf of Guinea (NWGoG: 10°W-5°E, 0°N-7°N; Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variability of Sea Surface Salinity in the NW Gulf of Guinea from SMAP Satellite

Nyadjro

Foli

Agyekum

et al. 2021

Remote Sens Earth Syst Sci

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The advent of satellite-derived sea surface salinity (SSS) measurements has boosted scientific study in less-sampled ocean regions such as the northwestern Gulf of Guinea (NWGoG). In this study, we examine the seasonal variability of SSS in the NWGoG from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite and show that it is well-suited for such regional studies as it is able to reproduce the observed SSS features in the study region. SMAP SSS bias, relative to in-situ data comparisons, reflects the differences between skin layer measurements and bulk-surface measurements that have been reported by previous studies. The study results reveal three broad anomalous SSS features: a basin-wide salinification during boreal summer, a basin-wide freshening during winter, and a meridionally-oriented frontal system during other seasons. A salt budget estimation suggests that the seasonal SSS variability is dominated by changes in freshwater flux, zonal circulation and upwelling. Freshwater flux, primarily driven by the seasonally varying Intertropical Convergence Zone, is a dominant contributor to salt budget in all seasons except during fall. Regionally, SSS is most variable off southwestern Nigeria and controlled primarily by westward extensions of the Niger River. Anomalous salty SSS off the coasts of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana especially during summer are driven mainly by coastal upwelling and horizontal advection.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variability of Sea Surface Salinity in the NW Gulf of Guinea from SMAP Satellite

Nyadjro

Foli

Agyekum

et al. 2021

Remote Sens Earth Syst Sci

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“…Automated measurements from satellite observation underpinned by remotely operated vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and buoys (such as data collected from the International Arctic Buoy Programme) offers the only currently available solution to providing the necessary synoptic measurements of multiple oceanographic parameters to characterize surface environmental heterogeneity (Shutler et al, 2019). Satellite observation can be used to study environmental conditions important in polar waters (Shutler et al, 2019) including: freshwater fluxes (e.g., Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019); surface water temperature (e.g., Vincent, 2019); Chlorophyll-a concentration, primary production and net community production (e.g., Babin et al, 2015), and sea ice type and depth (e.g., Kwok, 2018). Recent developments have shown that satellite observation measurements of temperature and salinity can provide observational-based estimates of surface carbonate system conditions (Land et al, 2019).…”

Section: Establish Baselinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Satellite Observations Are Needed to Understand Ocean Acidification and Multi-Stressor Impacts on Fish Stocks in a Changing Arctic Ocean

et al. 2021

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It is widely projected that under future climate scenarios the economic importance of Arctic Ocean fish stocks will increase. The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification and already experiences low pH levels not projected to occur on a global scale until 2100. This paper outlines how ocean acidification must be considered with other potential stressors to accurately predict movement of fish stocks toward, and within, the Arctic and to inform future fish stock management strategies. First, we review the literature on ocean acidification impacts on fish, next we identify the main obstacles that currently preclude ocean acidification from Arctic fish stock projections. Finally, we provide a roadmap to describe how satellite observations can be used to address these gaps: improve knowledge, inform experimental studies, provide regional assessments of vulnerabilities, and implement appropriate management strategies. This roadmap sets out three inter-linked research priorities: (1) Establish organisms and ecosystem physiochemical baselines by increasing the coverage of Arctic physicochemical observations in both space and time; (2) Understand the variability of all stressors in space and time; (3) Map life histories and fish stocks against satellite-derived observations of stressors.

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“…Earlier studies revealed the spatial distribution of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the high-latitude seas suggesting the possibility of using L-band radiometry satellites (e.g. Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019;Fournier et al, 2020;Hall et al, 2021). However, satellite-observed salinity data has accuracy issues, especially near land and sea ice in the high-latitude seas, due to the arctic region environments such as cold sea temperature, sea ice, and strong winds and waves that affect the sensitivity of Lband instruments and the surface roughness information (Klein and Swift, 1977;Brucker et al, 2014;Lang et al, 2016;Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019;Xie et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019;Fournier et al, 2020;Hall et al, 2021). However, satellite-observed salinity data has accuracy issues, especially near land and sea ice in the high-latitude seas, due to the arctic region environments such as cold sea temperature, sea ice, and strong winds and waves that affect the sensitivity of Lband instruments and the surface roughness information (Klein and Swift, 1977;Brucker et al, 2014;Lang et al, 2016;Nichols and Subrahmanyam, 2019;Xie et al, 2019). The lack of in-situ measurements for validation of satellite measurements also induces low quality ocean salinity data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability of Near-Surface Salinity in the Nordic Seas Over the Past Three Decades (1991-2019)

Park

Kim²,

Cho³

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The Nordic Seas have been widely implicated by deep water formation as a part of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This study explores the spatiotemporal variations in the near-surface salinity over the Nordic Seas associated with surface freshening factors by using monthly TOPAZ4 reanalysis data from 1991 to 2019. We first show that reliability of TOPAZ4 data compared to the salinity products of other reanalysis data, satellite data, and in-situ measurements in the Nordic Seas. The salinity variability was larger in the Greenland Sea (GS) than in the Norwegian Sea (NS) on both time scales of seasonal and interannual. The seasonal change of GS salinity was coincident with the seasonality of sea ice extent. The longer-time variations are decomposed by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The GS salinity is mainly affected by current advection (29%) and sea ice extent (11%). The interannual response of salinity to the sea ice extent over the GS differs by season. NS salinity variability responds to the strength of the Subpolar Gyre associated with a large-scale atmospheric system that caused the freshening event in the mid-1990s. The propagation of the northward Atlantic Water core is observed over the period of about 3 years from the Faroe Shetland Channel to the Fram Strait at a speed of 2.6-6.5° year-1. Other freshening factors such as sea ice export from the Arctic, freshwater flux at the Fram Strait, and net precipitation are also discussed. For the past three decades, the continuous trend appeared only in the sea ice extent, which might be a signal of climate changes over high latitude. However, there was no significant trend other than the periodic change in a few years to the decadal time scale in the salinity of GS and NS. As preconditioning for deep convection, near-surface salinity within Greenland Sea Gyre was influenced by salinity fluctuation in both GS and NS.

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Estimation of Surface Freshwater Fluxes in the Arctic Ocean Using Satellite-Derived Salinity

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

Seasonal Variability of Sea Surface Salinity in the NW Gulf of Guinea from SMAP Satellite

Seasonal Variability of Sea Surface Salinity in the NW Gulf of Guinea from SMAP Satellite

Satellite Observations Are Needed to Understand Ocean Acidification and Multi-Stressor Impacts on Fish Stocks in a Changing Arctic Ocean

Variability of Near-Surface Salinity in the Nordic Seas Over the Past Three Decades (1991-2019)

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