Salinity Budget in Matlab

Michael StillerOCN 699

Average Salinity for 1994 in the Atlantic OceanThis figure illustrates average salinity in the Atlantic Ocean across a twelve month period in 1994. During the months of May – August, salinity drops from a combination of evaporation and precipitation mechanisms.

Salinity Across Latitude/Longitude

• These next two graphs illustrates average salinity for 1994 in the Atlantic Ocean across longitude and latitude. In the North Atlantic, the ocean is much more salty than in the Southern Atlantic towards Antarctica. What is also interesting is the “camel hump” in the tropic longitudes, with a dip in salinity at the equator. Across latitude, the graph shows that the Atlantic Ocean is much more salty than the Pacific. I expect this as the Pacific is much larger and deeper, and also that the Mediterranean Ocean is also affecting salinity in the Atlantic.

Salinity Budget Across Zonal and Meridional Surface CurrentsThese two graphs illustrate the dot product of salinity to zonal and meridional surface currents throughout the oceans. Surface currents are defined as currents affecting a depth layer of 10 meters. Overall, the two graphs appear similar. The result shows that the zonal and meridional surface currents are helping to balance the salinity budget throughout the oceans.

Global Illustration of Currents and Salinity Budget

• The following illustrations show zonal surface currents, meridional surface currents, and salinity budgets affected by these currents. We define zonal currents as eastward or westward. A positive number represent that the zonal currents are transporting water eastward, and a negative number represents water transport westward. For meridional surface currents, a positive number represents transport southward, and a negative number represents transport northward. The current speed is defined in knots.

• By taking the dot product of salinity and mean current velocity, we are able to see how salt is transported through the ocean via these currents to help balance the salt budget of the oceans. The following graphs for zonal and meridional surface currents represent a twelve month period from 1992-2014. The mean velocity of these currents is used in dot product multiplication with average salinity for 1994.

Month 0

Month 2

Month 0

Month 0

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Month 8

Month 8

Month 8

Month 8

Month 12

Month 12

Month 12

Month 12