Objectives of the Workshop, Results of SMOS+ Surface Ocean Salinity (SOS)

Ellis Ash (SatOC)Christine Gommenginger, Chris Banks, Eleni Tzortzi (NOC)

Jacqueline Boutin (LOCEAN)Nicolas Reul (Ifremer)

Matt Martin (Met Office)Craig Donlon (ESA)

http://www.smos-sos.org

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 2

Contents

• Objectives of the workshop• The SMOS+SOS project• Key science questions• SMOS+SOS results showcase• Conclusions• Further talks and posters

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 3

Objectives of the Workshop

• Review the progress in our understanding of ocean salinity and associated processes [all sessions]

• Present the status of satellite remote sensing of sea surface salinity and its contribution to ocean science [all sessions, especially sessions 1, 2, 3]

• Explore techniques and challenges associated with the use of salinity data in ocean models [sessions 4 and 6]

• Identify the most promising future applications for satellite-derived estimates of sea surface salinity

• Review user requirements for future satellite-derived estimates of sea surface salinity

• Prioritise future activities for ocean salinity science [panel discussion]

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 4

Workshop Programme Summary

• Session 1: Sea surface salinity monitoring: past present and future• Session 2: Complementarities between in situ and satellite SSS

observing systems• Session 3: Satellite salinity observing systems: current

performance and issues (geophysical products)• Session 4: Salinity and ocean circulation, including modeling,

transports and upper ocean processes• Session 5: Salinity and ocean biology, biogeochemistry, bio-optics• Session 6: Salinity and ocean circulation, including climate and

forecasting• Session 7: Salinity and the water cycle, including

atmosphere/ocean/land/ice interactions and fluxes + panel discussion

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 5

The SMOS+ SOS Project

SMOS+ Surface Ocean Salinity (SOS) is an ESA STSE project to demonstrate the performance and scientific value of SMOS Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) products through five well-defined case studies.

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 6

Key science questions for SMOS+ SOS

• How does the surface salinity measurement made by SMOS relate to the salinity at several meters depth?

• What is the accuracy and uncertainty of SMOS SSS?• What are the new oceanographic processes we can study

with SMOS SSS?• What do we gain from using SMOS and SAC/D Aquarius

mission data in synergy?

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 7

Amazon and Orinoco river outflow

From S. Fournier PhD thesis, Ifremer / CATDS

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 8

Agulhas and Gulf Stream currents

From Reul et al. (2014), GRL 41(9) , 3141-3148

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 9

Pre-assimilation studies

Intercomparison work at the Met Office, see Session 6 Matt Martin

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 10

SPURS region and Azores current

From Kolodziejczyk et al. (2014), JGR: Oceans, under minor revisionSession 4, 1200-1220: N. Kolodziejczyk

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 11

Tropical instability waves

From Yin et al. (2014), JGR: Oceans, in pressPoster by X. Yin, Session 2, 1120-1150: J. Boutin

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 12

Rain events in Tropical pacific and Atlantic

From Boutin et al. (2014), JGR: Oceans, 119(8), 5533-5545Session 7, 1010-1030: J. Boutin

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 13

High precision of SMOS relative SSS measurements

See smos-sos.org and Hernandez et al. (2014), JGR: Oceans, in press

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 14

Conclusions

• Excellent ability of SMOS to detect strong salinity gradients further understood (Amazon plumes, Gulf Stream)

• Mesoscale salinity signatures over open ocean also very well monitored (frontal zones, rain events)

• How does the salinity measurement made by SMOS relate to the salinity at several meters depth?New evidence of strong surface freshening after rain events

• What is the accuracy and uncertainty of SMOS SSS?Relative precision of SMOS SSS refined to ~0.2 over scales 1 month and 100km

• What are the new oceanographic processes we can study with SMOS SSS?Thermohaline variability (fronts and eddies), propagation of tropical instability waves

Ocean Salinity Science 2014, 26-28th November, Met Officeslide 15

SMOS+SOS talks and poster• Session 2, 1120-1150: Jacqueline Boutin (LOCEAN)

SMOS provides SSS measurements complimentary to in situ network• Session 6, 1700-1720: Matthew Martin (Met Office) Suitability of satellite sea

surface salinity data for use in assessing and correcting ocean forecasts• Session 7, 1010-1030: Jacqueline Boutin (LOCEAN) Sea Surface Salinity under

rain cells: SMOS satellite and in-situ drifters observations• Session 7, 1120-1140: Eleni Tzortzi (NOC) Towards a better description of the

Atlantic SSS variability from SMOS and the role of freshwater fluxes• Poster: Chris Banks (NOC)

Building climatological sea surface salinity products from SMOS• Session 4, 1200-1220: N. Kolodziejczyk (LOCEAN) SMOS salinity in the

Subtropical North Atlantic Salinity Maximum: Horizontal Thermohaline Variability.• Session 5, 1440-1500: C. Brown (LOCEAN) The application of SMOS salinity

and SST to quantify carbon fluxes from the Eastern Tropical Pacific.• Poster: X. Yin (LOCEAN) Sea surface salinity signatures of tropical instability

waves: new evidence from SMOS