Sea Surface Salinity Observations from Space with the SMOS Satellite: A New Means to Monitor the Marine Branch of the Water Cycle

Reul, Nicolás; Fournier, Séverine; Boutin, Jacqueline; Hernandez, Olga; Maes, Christophe; Chapron, Bertrand; Alory, Gaël; Quilfen, Yves; Tenerelli, Joseph; Morisset, Simon; Kerr, Yann H.; Mecklenburg, Susanne; Delwart, Steven

doi:10.1007/s10712-013-9244-0

Cited by 141 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 117 publications

(133 reference statements)

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“…We use the ESA level 2 data (v5 reprocessing) weighted averages produced by the LOCEAN team in Paris as described in Boutin et al [2013]. It does not include strong relaxation to the climatology and thus preserves interannual variability [Reul et al, 2013]. SSS maps are made of SSS (assumed to represent the 0-10 cm) averaged over 10 days or 1 month and over 1 Â 1 and are oversampled on a 0.25 latitude by 0.25 longitude grid.…”

Section: Data Description and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and variability of the South Pacific Sea Surface Salinity maximum in recent decades

Hasson

Delcroix

Boutin

2013

J. Geophys. Res. Oceans

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International audienceThis study investigates causes for the formation and variability of the Sea Surface Salinity maximum (SSS > 36) centered near 18°S-124°W in the South Pacific Ocean over the 1990-2011 period at the seasonal time scale and above. We use two monthly gridded products of SSS based on in situ measurements, high-resolution along-track Voluntary Observing Ships thermo-salinograph data, new SMOS satellite data, and a validated ocean general circulation model with no direct SSS relaxation. All products reveal a seasonal cycle of the location of the 36-isohaline barycenter of about ±400 km in longitude in response to changes in the South Pacific Convergence Zone location and Easterly winds intensity. They also show a low frequency westward shift of the barycenter of 1400 km from the mid 1990s to the early 2010s that could not be linked to the El Nino Southern Oscillation phenomena. In the model, the processes maintaining the 22 year equilibrium of the high salinity in the mixed layer are the surface forcing (˜+0.73 pss/yr), the horizontal salinity advection (˜-0.37 pss/yr), and processes occurring at the mixed layer base (˜-0.35 pss/yr)

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Section: Data Description and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and variability of the South Pacific Sea Surface Salinity maximum in recent decades

Hasson

Delcroix

Boutin

2013

J. Geophys. Res. Oceans

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“…. The mean error of the composites is about 0.3 psu in the tropical oceans [25]. Satellite SST data used here are the Group for HighResolution SST (GHRSST) [6] level 4 products.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ocean and atmosphere? ocean interactions [25]. The large-scale variability of SSS can now be investigated with unprecedented space and time sampling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The salinity signature of the equatorial Pacific cold tongue as revealed by the satellite SMOS mission

et al. 2014

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The space-borne measurements of the SMOS mission reveal for the first time the complete features of the sea surface salinity (SSS) signature at the full scale of the Pacific basin. The SSS field in the equatorial cold tongue is typically found to be larger than 35.1 within a narrow 2? band of latitude that is positioned slightly south of the equator and that stretches across the eastern Pacific basin up to the Galapagos Islands. On the northern edge of the eastern equatorial Pacific this signature results in a very strong horizontal gradient (larger than 2 units over 100 km) with the fresh waters of the Panama warm pool. By considering a water density criterion, it can be shown that the cold tongue is characterized by a strong seasonal cycle with a 3? C amplitude in SST where the warm season of February-March contrasts with the cold period extending from September to November. If the present ocean reanalyzes are able to capture these features, then the assimilation of the SMOS data becomes a worthwhile objective in order to depict more accurately the salinity signature of the cold tongue of the tropical Pacific.

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“…Although the Amazon River estuary is located further south, within the equatorial domain, the riverine outflow was encountered between 11ºN and 18ºN, as evidenced by low salinity (< 34) in the upper 30 -40 m and silicate concentrations reaching as high as 8 PM at 10 m ( Figure S1) (Reul et al, 2014;Rijkenberg et al, 2014). Fluorescence and beam attenuation also reflect the intrusion of the river plume as well as high satellite-derived Chl-a concentrations (Figure 1).…”

Section: Oligotrophic (20ºn-35ºn)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal distributions of particulate carbon export across the North Western Atlantic Ocean

Puigcorbé

Roca‐Martí

Masqué

et al. 2017

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

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Abstract234 Th-derived carbon export fluxes were measured in the Atlantic Ocean under the GEOTRACES framework to evaluate basin-scale export variability. Here, we present the results from the northern half of the GA02 transect, spanning from the equator to 64°N. As a result of limited site-specific C/ 234 Th ratio measurements, we further combined our data with previous work to develop a basin wide C/ 234 Th ratio depth curve. While the magnitude of organic carbon fluxes varied depending on the C/ 234 Th ratio used, latitudinal trends were similar, with sizeable and variable organic carbon export fluxes occurring at high latitudes and low to negligible fluxes occurring in oligotrophic waters. Our results agree with previous studies, except at the boundaries between domains, where fluxes were relatively enhanced.Three different models were used to obtain satellite-derived net primary production (NPP). In general, NPP estimates had similar trends along the transect, but there were significant differences in the absolute magnitude depending on the model used. Nevertheless, organic carbon export efficiencies were generally < 25%, with the exception of a few stations located in the transition area between the riverine and the oligotrophic domains and between the oligotrophic and the temperate domains. Satellite-derived organic carbon export models from Dunne et al. (2005) The large increase in export data in the Atlantic Ocean derived from the GEOTRACES Program, combined with satellite observations and modeling efforts continue to improve the estimates of carbon export in this ocean basin and therefore reduce uncertainty in the global carbon budget.However, our results also suggest that tuning export models and including biological parameters at a regional scale is necessary for improving satellite-modeling efforts and providing export estimates that are more representative of in situ observations.

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Sea Surface Salinity Observations from Space with the SMOS Satellite: A New Means to Monitor the Marine Branch of the Water Cycle

Cited by 141 publications

References 117 publications

Formation and variability of the South Pacific Sea Surface Salinity maximum in recent decades

Formation and variability of the South Pacific Sea Surface Salinity maximum in recent decades

The salinity signature of the equatorial Pacific cold tongue as revealed by the satellite SMOS mission

Latitudinal distributions of particulate carbon export across the North Western Atlantic Ocean

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