scholarly journals Subfootprint Variability of Sea Surface Salinity Observed during the SPURS-1 and SPURS-2 Field Campaigns

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 2689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Bingham

Subfootprint variability (SFV), variability within the footprint of a satellite measurement, is a source of error associated with the validation process, especially for a satellite measurement with a large footprint such as those measuring sea surface salinity (SSS). This type of error has not been adequately quantified in the past. In this study, I have examined SFV using in situ ocean data from the SPURS-1 (Salinity Processes in the Upper ocean Regional Studies-1) and SPURS-2 field campaigns in the subtropical North Atlantic and eastern tropical North Pacific respectively. I computed SFV from these data over two one-year periods of intense sampling. The results show that SFV is highly seasonal. I have computed SFV errors in several different forms, a median value of the weekly snapshot error, a total snapshot error, an absolute error of the Aquarius and SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) measurement, a part of that error associated with SFV and a bias due to the skewness of the distribution of SSS. These results are characteristic only of the particular regions studied. However, comparison of the results with high resolution models, and in situ data from moorings gives the possibility of getting global estimates of SFV from these other more common sources of SSS data.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarni Medina-Lopez

<p>The aim of this work is to obtain high-resolution values of sea surface salinity (SSS) and temperature (SST) in the global ocean by using raw satellite data (i.e., without any band data pre-processing or atmospheric correction). Sentinel-2 Level 1-C Top of Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data is used to obtain accurate SSS and SST information. A deep neural network is built to link the band information with in situ data from different buoys, vessels, drifters, and other platforms around the world. The neural network used in this paper includes shortcuts, providing an improved performance compared with the equivalent feed-forward architecture. The in situ information used as input for the network has been obtained from the Copernicus Marine In situ Service. Sentinel-2 platform-centred band data has been processed using Google Earth Engine in areas of 100 m x 100 m. Accurate salinity values are estimated for the first time independently of temperature. Salinity results rely only on direct satellite observations, although it presented a clear dependency on temperature ranges. Results show the neural network has good interpolation and extrapolation capabilities. Test results present correlation coefficients of 82% and 84% for salinity and temperature, respectively. The most common error for both SST and SSS is 0.4 C and 0.4 PSU. The sensitivity analysis shows that outliers are present in areas where the number of observations is very low. The network is finally applied over a complete Sentinel-2 tile, presenting sensible patterns for river-sea interaction, as well as seasonal variations. The methodology presented here is relevant for detailed coastal and oceanographic applications, reducing the time for data pre-processing, and it is applicable to a wide range of satellites, as the information is directly obtained from TOA data.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estrella Olmedo ◽  
Carolina Gabarró ◽  
Verónica González-Gambau ◽  
Justino Martínez ◽  
Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy ◽  
...  

This paper aims to present and assess the quality of seven years (2011–2017) of 25 km nine-day Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) objectively analyzed maps in the Arctic and sub-Arctic oceans ( 50 ∘ N– 90 ∘ N). The SMOS SSS maps presented in this work are an improved version of the preliminary three-year dataset generated and freely distributed by the Barcelona Expert Center. In this new version, a time-dependent bias correction has been applied to mitigate the seasonal bias that affected the previous SSS maps. An extensive database of in situ data (Argo floats and thermosalinograph measurements) has been used for assessing the accuracy of this product. The standard deviation of the difference between the new SMOS SSS maps and Argo SSS ranges from 0.25 and 0.35. The major features of the inter-annual SSS variations observed by the thermosalinographs are also captured by the SMOS SSS maps. However, the validation in some regions of the Arctic Ocean has not been feasible because of the lack of in situ data. In those regions, qualitative comparisons with SSS provided by models and the remotely sensed SSS provided by Aquarius and SMAP have been performed. Despite the differences between SMOS and SMAP, both datasets show consistent SSS variations with respect to the model and the river discharge in situ data, but present a larger dynamic range than that of the model. This result suggests that, in those regions, the use of the remotely sensed SSS may help to improve the models.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Sabia ◽  
Sebastien Guimbard ◽  
Nicolas Reul ◽  
Tony Lee ◽  
Julian Schanze ◽  
...  

<p>The Pilot Mission Exploitation Platform (Pi-MEP) for Salinity (www.salinity-pimep.org) has been released operationally in 2019 to the broad oceanographic community, in order to foster satellite sea surface salinity validation and exploitation activities.</p><p>Specifically, the Platform aims at enhancing salinityvalidation, by allowing systematic inter-comparison of various EO datasets with a broad suite of in-situ data, and also at enabling oceanographic process studies by capitalizing on salinity data in synergy with additional spaceborne estimates.</p><p> </p><p>Despite Pi-MEP was originally conceived as an ESA initiative to widen the uptake of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission data over ocean, a project partnership with NASA was devised soon after the operational deployment, and an official collaboration endorsed within the ESA-NASA Joint Program Planning Group (JPPG).</p><p> </p><p>The Salinity Pi-MEP has therefore become a reference hub for SMOS, SMAP and Aquarius satellite salinity missions, which are assessed in synergy with additional thematic datasets (e.g., precipitation, evaporation, currents, sea level anomalies, ocean color, sea surface temperature). </p><p>Match-up databases of satellite/in situ (such as Argo, TSG, moorings, drifters) data and corresponding validation reports at different spatiotemporal scales are systematically generated; furthermore, recently-developed dedicated tools allow data visualization, metrics computation and user-driven features extractions.</p><p> </p><p>The Platform is also meant to monitor salinity in selected oceanographic “case studies”, ranging from river plumes monitoring to SSS characterization in challenging regions, such as high latitudes or semi-enclosed basins.</p><p> </p><p>The two Agencies are currently collaborating to widen the Platform features on several technical aspects - ranging from a triple-collocation software implementation to a sustained exploitation of data from the SPURS-1/2 campaigns. In this context, an upgrade of the satellite/in-situ match-up methodology has been recently agreed, resulting into a redefinition of the validation criteria that will be subsequently implemented in the Platform.</p><p> </p><p>A further synthesis of the three satellites salinity algorithms, models and auxiliary data handling is at the core of the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) on Salinity and of ESA-NASA further collaboration.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 3996
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Bingham ◽  
Zhijin Li

Subfootprint variability (SFV), or representativeness error, is variability within the footprint of a satellite that can impact validation by comparison of in situ and remote sensing data. This study seeks to determine the size of the sea surface salinity (SSS) SFV as a function of footprint size in two regions that were heavily sampled with in situ data. The Salinity Processes in the Upper-ocean Regional Studies-1 (SPURS-1) experiment was conducted in the subtropical North Atlantic in the period 2012–2013, whereas the SPURS-2 study was conducted in the tropical eastern North Pacific in the period 2016–2017. SSS SFV was also computed using a high-resolution regional model based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). We computed SFV at footprint sizes ranging from 20 to 100 km for both regions. SFV is strongly seasonal, but for different reasons in the two regions. In the SPURS-1 region, the meso- and submesoscale variability seemed to control the size of the SFV. In the SPURS-2 region, the SFV is much larger than SPURS-1 and controlled by patchy rainfall.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Bingham ◽  
Susannah Brodnitz ◽  
Lisan Yu

Satellite observations of sea surface salinity (SSS) have been validated in a number of instances using different forms of in situ data, including Argo floats, moorings and gridded in situ products. Since one of the most energetic time scales of variability of SSS is seasonal, it is important to know if satellites and gridded in situ products are observing the seasonal variability correctly. In this study we validate the seasonal SSS from satellite and gridded in situ products using observations from moorings in the global tropical moored buoy array. We utilize six different satellite products, and two different gridded in situ products. For each product we have computed seasonal harmonics, including amplitude, phase and fraction of variance (R2). These quantities are mapped for each product and for the moorings. We also do comparisons of amplitude, phase and R2 between moorings and all the satellite and gridded in situ products. Taking the mooring observations as ground truth, we find general good agreement between them and the satellite and gridded in situ products, with near zero bias in phase and amplitude and small root mean square differences. Tables are presented with these quantities for each product quantifying the degree of agreement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1907-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imranali M. Momin ◽  
Ashis K. Mitra ◽  
Satya Prakash ◽  
D.K. Mahapatra ◽  
Anitha Gera ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 420
Author(s):  
Jingru Sun ◽  
Gabriel Vecchi ◽  
Brian Soden

Multi-year records of satellite remote sensing of sea surface salinity (SSS) provide an opportunity to investigate the climatological characteristics of the SSS response to tropical cyclones (TCs). In this study, the influence of TC winds, rainfall and preexisting ocean stratification on SSS evolution is examined with multiple satellite-based and in-situ data. Global storm-centered composites indicate that TCs act to initially freshen the ocean surface (due to precipitation), and subsequently salinify the surface, largely through vertical ocean processes (mixing and upwelling), although regional hydrography can lead to local departure from this behavior. On average, on the day a TC passes, a strong SSS decrease is observed. The fresh anomaly is subsequently replaced by a net surface salinification, which persists for weeks. This salinification is larger on the right (left)-hand side of the storm motion in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere, consistent with the location of stronger turbulent mixing. The influence of TC intensity and translation speed on the ocean response is also examined. Despite having greater precipitation, stronger TCs tend to produce longer-lasting, stronger and deeper salinification especially on the right-hand side of the storm motion. Faster moving TCs are found to have slightly weaker freshening with larger area coverage during the passage, but comparable salinification after the passage. The ocean haline response in four basins with different climatological salinity stratification reveals a significant impact of vertical stratification on the salinity response during and after the passage of TCs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 811
Author(s):  
Hao Liu ◽  
Zexun Wei

The variability in sea surface salinity (SSS) on different time scales plays an important role in associated oceanic or climate processes. In this study, we compare the SSS on sub-annual, annual, and interannual time scales among ten datasets, including in situ-based and satellite-based SSS products over 2011–2018. Furthermore, the dominant mode on different time scales is compared using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF). Our results show that the largest spread of ten products occurs on the sub-annual time scale. High correlation coefficients (0.6~0.95) are found in the global mean annual and interannual SSSs between individual products and the ensemble mean. Furthermore, this study shows good agreement among the ten datasets in representing the dominant mode of SSS on the annual and interannual time scales. This analysis provides information on the consistency and discrepancy of datasets to guide future use, such as improvements to ocean data assimilation and the quality of satellite-based data.


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