An analysis on the error structure and mechanism of soil moisture and ocean salinity remotely sensed sea surface salinity products

For the application of soil moisture and ocean salinity（SMOS） remotely sensed sea surface salinity（SSS） products,SMOS SSS global maps and error characteristics have been investigated based on quality control information.The results show that the errors of SMOS SSS products are distributed zonally,i.e.,relatively small in the tropical oceans,but much greater in the southern oceans in the Southern Hemisphere（negative bias） and along the southern,northern and some other oceanic margins（positive or negative bias）.The physical elements responsible for these errors include wind,temperature,and coastal terrain and so on.Errors in the southern oceans are due to the bias in an SSS retrieval algorithm caused by the coexisting high wind speed and low temperature; errors along the oceanic margins are due to the bias in a brightness temperature（TB） reconstruction caused by the high contrast between L-band emissivities from ice or land and from ocean; in addition,some other systematic errors are due to the bias in TB observation caused by a radio frequency interference and a radiometer receivers drift,etc.The findings will contribute to the scientific correction and appropriate application of the SMOS SSS products.

Deep learning to estimate ocean subsurface salinity structure in the Indian Ocean using satellite observations

Accurately estimating the ocean subsurface salinity structure(OSSS)is crucial for understanding ocean dynamics and predicting climate variations.We present a convolutional neural network(CNN)model to estimate the OSSS in the Indian Ocean using satellite data and Argo observations.We evaluated the performance of the CNN model in terms of its vertical and spatial distribution,as well as seasonal variation of OSSS estimation.Results demonstrate that the CNN model accurately estimates the most significant salinity features in the Indian Ocean using sea surface data with no significant differences from Argo-derived OSSS.However,the estimation accuracy of the CNN model varies with depth,with the most challenging depth being approximately 70 m,corresponding to the halocline layer.Validations of the CNN model’s accuracy in estimating OSSS in the Indian Ocean are also conducted by comparing Argo observations and CNN model estimations along two selected sections and four selected boxes.The results show that the CNN model effectively captures the seasonal variability of salinity,demonstrating its high performance in salinity estimation using sea surface data.Our analysis reveals that sea surface salinity has the strongest correlation with OSSS in shallow layers,while sea surface height anomaly plays a more significant role in deeper layers.These preliminary results provide valuable insights into the feasibility of estimating OSSS using satellite observations and have implications for studying upper ocean dynamics using machine learning techniques.

Salinity effect-induced ENSO amplitude modulation in association with the interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

A 110-year ensemble simulation of an ocean general circulation model(OGCM)was analyzed to identify the modulation of salinity interdecadal variability on El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)amplitude in the tropical Pacific during 1901-2010.The simulating results show that sea surface salinity(SSS)variation in the region exhibits notable and coherent interdecadal variability signal,which is closely associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation(IPO).As salinity increases or reduces,the SSS modulations on ENSO amplitude during its warm/cold events vary asymmetrically with positive/negative IPO phases.Physically,salinity interdecadal variability can enhance or reduce ENSO-related conditions in upper-ocean stratification,contributing noticeably to ENSO variability.Salinity anomalies associated with the mixed layer depth and barrier layer thickness can modulate ENSO amplitude during positive and negative IPO phases,resulting in the asymmetry of sea surface temperature(SST)anomaly in the tropical Pacific.During positive IPO phases,SSS interdecadal variability contributes positively to El Niño amplitude but negatively to La Niña amplitude by enhancing or reducing SSS interannual variability,and vice versa during negative IPO phases.Quantitatively,the results indicate that the modulation of the ENSO amplitude by the SSS interdecadal variability is 15%-28%during negative IPO phases and 30%-20%during positive IPO phases,respectively.Evidently,the SSS interdecadal variability associated with IPO and its modulation on ENSO amplitude in the tropical Pacific are among factors essentially contributing ENSO diversity.

An improved algorithm for retrieving thin sea ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean from SMOS and SMAP L-band radiometer data

The aim of this study was to develop an improved thin sea ice thickness(SIT)retrieval algorithm in the Arctic Ocean from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity and Soil Moisture Active Passive L-band radiometer data.This SIT retrieval algorithm was trained using the simulated SIT from the cumulative freezing degree days model during the freeze-up period over five carefully selected regions in the Beaufort,Chukchi,East Siberian,Laptev and Kara seas and utilized the microwave polarization ratio(PR)at incidence angle of 40°.The improvements of the proposed retrieval algorithm include the correction for the sea ice concentration impact,reliable reference SIT data over different representative regions of the Arctic Ocean and the utilization of microwave polarization ratio that is independent of ice temperature.The relationship between the SIT and PR was found to be almost stable across the five selected regions.The SIT retrievals were then compared to other two existing algorithms(i.e.,UH_SIT from the University of Hamburg and UB_SIT from the University of Bremen)and validated against independent SIT data obtained from moored upward looking sonars(ULS)and airborne electromagnetic(EM)induction sensors.The results suggest that the proposed algorithm could achieve comparable accuracies to UH_SIT and UB_SIT with root mean square error(RMSE)being about 0.20 m when validating using ULS SIT data and outperformed the UH_SIT and UB_SIT with RMSE being about 0.21 m when validatng using EM SIT data.The proposed algorithm can be used for thin sea ice thickness(<1.0 m)estimation in the Arctic Ocean and requires less auxiliary data in the SIT retrieval procedure which makes its implementation more practical.

Assessment and adjustment of sea surface salinity products from Aquarius in the southeast Indian Ocean based on in situ measurement and My Ocean modeled data

The in situ sea surface salinity（SSS） measurements from a scientific cruise to the western zone of the southeast Indian Ocean covering 30°-60°S, 80°-120°E are used to assess the SSS retrieved from Aquarius（Aquarius SSS）.Wind speed and sea surface temperature（SST） affect the SSS estimates based on passive microwave radiation within the mid- to low-latitude southeast Indian Ocean. The relationships among the in situ, Aquarius SSS and wind-SST corrections are used to adjust the Aquarius SSS. The adjusted Aquarius SSS are compared with the SSS data from My Ocean model. Results show that：（1） Before adjustment： compared with My Ocean SSS, the Aquarius SSS in most of the sea areas is higher; but lower in the low-temperature sea areas located at the south of 55°S and west of 98°E. The Aquarius SSS is generally higher by 0.42 on average for the southeast Indian Ocean.（2） After adjustment： the adjustment greatly counteracts the impact of high wind speeds and improves the overall accuracy of the retrieved salinity（the mean absolute error of the Zonal mean is improved by 0.06, and the mean error is-0.05 compared with My Ocean SSS）. Near the latitude 42°S, the adjusted SSS is well consistent with the My Ocean and the difference is approximately 0.004.

A method for correcting regional bias in SMOS global salinity products

Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity （SMOS） Level 3 （L3） sea surface salinity （SSS） products are provided by the Barcelona Expert Centre （BEC）. Strong biases were observed on the SMOS SSS products, thus the data from the Centre Aval de Traitement des Donnees SMOS （CATDS） were adjusted for biases using a large-scale correction derived from observed differences between the SMOS SSS and World Ocean Atlas （WOA） climatology data. However, this large-scale correction method is not suitable for correcting the large gradient of salinity biases. Here, we present a method for the correction of SSS regional bias of the monthly L3 products. Based on the stable characteristics of the large SSS biases from month to month in some regions, corrected SMOS SSS maps can be obtained from the monthly mean values after removing the regional biases. The accuracy of the SMOS SSS measurements is greatly improved, especially near the coastline, at high latitudes, and in some open ocean regions. The SMOS and ISAS SSS data are also compared with Aquarius SSS to verify the corrected SMOS SSS data. The correction method presented here only corrects annual mean biases. The measurement accuracy of the SSS may be improved by considering the influence of atmospheric and ocean circulation in different seasons and years.

A new method to retrieve salinity profiles from sea surface salinity observed by SMOS satellite

This paper proposes a new method to retrieve salinity profiles from the sea surface salinity （SSS） observed by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity （SMOS） satellite. The main vertical patterns of the salinity profiles are firstly extracted from the salinity profiles measured by Argo using the empirical orthogonal function. To determine the time coefficients for each vertical pattern, two statistical models are developed. In the linear model, a transfer function is proposed to relate the SSS observed by SMOS （SMOS_SSS） with that measured by Argo, and then a linear relationship between the SMOS_SSS and the time coefficient is established. In the nonlinear model, the neural network is utilized to estimate the time coefficients from SMOS_SSS, months and positions of the salinity profiles. The two models are validated by comparing the salinity profiles retrieved from SMOS with those measured by Argo and the climatological salinities. The root-mean-square error （RMSE） of the linear and nonlinear model are 0.08-0.16 and 0.08-0.14 for the upper 400 m, which are 0.01-0.07 and 0.01-0.09 smaller than the RMSE of climatology. The error sources of the method are also discussed.

Preliminary validation of SMOS sea surface salinity measurements in the South China Sea

The SMOS(soil moisture and ocean salinity) mission undertaken by the European Space Agency(ESA) has provided sea surface salinity(SSS) measurements at global scale since 2009.Validation of SSS values retrieved from SMOS data has been done globally and regionally.However,the accuracy of SSS measurements by SMOS in the China seas has not been examined in detail.In this study,we compared retrieved SSS values from SMOS data with in situ measurements from a South China Sea(SCS) expedition during autumn 2011.The comparison shows that the retrieved SSS values using ascending pass data have much better agreement with in situ measurements than the result derived from descending pass data.Accuracy in terms of bias and root mean square error(RMS) of the SSS retrieved using three different sea surface roughness models is very consistent,regardless of ascending or descending orbits.When ascending and descending measurements are combined for comparison,the retrieved SSS using a semi-empirical model shows the best agreement with in situ measurements,with bias-0.33 practical salinity units and RMS 0.74.We also investigated the impact of environmental conditions of sea surface wind and sea surface temperature on accuracy of the retrieved SSS.The SCS is a semi-closed basin where radio frequencies transmitted from the mainland strongly interfere with SMOS measurements.Therefore,accuracy of retrieved SSS shows a relationship with distance between the validation sites and land.

Validation and application of soil moisture active passive sea surface salinity observation over the Changjiang River Estuary

Using sea surface salinity(SSS)observation from the soil moisture active passive(SMAP)mission,we analyzed the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of SSS around Changjiang River(Yangtze River)Estuary for the period of September 2015 to August 2018.First,we found that the SSS from SMAP is more accurate than soil moisture and ocean salinity(SMOS)mission observation when comparing with the in situ observations.Then,the SSS signature of the Changjiang River freshwater was analyzed using SMAP data and the river discharge data from the Datong hydrological station.The results show that the SSS around the Changjiang River Estuary is significantly lower than that of the open ocean,and shows significant seasonal variation.The minimum value of SSS appears in July and maximum SSS in December.The root mean square difference of daily SSS between SMAP observation and in situ observation is around 3 in both summer and winter,which is much lower than the annual range of SSS variation.In summer,the diffusion direction of the Changjiang River freshwater depicted by SSS from SMAP is consistent with the path of freshwater from in situ observation,suggesting that SMAP observation may be used in coastal seas in monitoring the diffusion and advection of freshwater discharge.

A performance evaluation of remotely sensed sea surface salinity products in combination with other surface measurements in reconstructing three-dimensional salinity fields

Several remotely sensed sea surface salinity（SSS） retrievals with various resolutions from the soil moisture and ocean salinity（SMOS） and Aquarius/SAC-D missions are applied as inputs for retrieving salinity profiles（S） using multilinear regressions. The performance is evaluated using a total root mean square（RMS） error, different error sources, and the feature resolutions of the retrieved S fields. In the mixed layer of the salinity, the SSS-S regression coefficients are uniformly large. The SSS inputs yield smaller RMS errors in the retrieved S with respect to Argo profiles as their spatial or temporal resolution decreases. The projected SSS errors are dominant, and the retrieved S values are more accurate than those of climatology in the tropics except for the tropical Atlantic, where the regression errors are abnormally large. Below that level, because of the influence of a sea level anomaly, the areas of high-accuracy S values shift to higher latitudes except in the high-latitude southern oceans, where the projected SSS errors are abnormally large. A spectral analysis suggests that the CATDS-0.25° results are much noisier and that the BEC-L4-0.25° results are much smoother than those of the other retrievals. Aquarius-CAP-1° generates the smallest RMS errors, and Aquarius-V2-1° performs well in depicting large-scale phenomena. BEC-L3-0.25°,which has small RMS errors and remarkable mesoscale energy, is the best fit for portraying mesoscale features in the SSS and retrieved S fields. The current priority for retrieving S is to improve the reliability of satellite SSS especially at middle and high latitudes, by developing advanced algorithms, combining both sensors, or weighing between accuracy and resolutions.

CAS-ESM2.0 Model Datasets for the CMIP6 Ocean Model Intercomparison Project Phase 1 (OMIP1)

As a member of the Chinese modeling groups,the coupled ocean-ice component of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’Earth System Model,version 2.0(CAS-ESM2.0),is taking part in the Ocean Model Intercomparison Project Phase 1(OMIP1)experiment of phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6).The simulation was conducted,and monthly outputs have been published on the ESGF(Earth System Grid Federation)data server.In this paper,the experimental dataset is introduced,and the preliminary performances of the ocean model in simulating the global ocean temperature,salinity,sea surface temperature,sea surface salinity,sea surface height,sea ice,and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation(AMOC)are evaluated.The results show that the model is at quasi-equilibrium during the integration of 372 years,and performances of the model are reasonable compared with observations.This dataset is ready to be downloaded and used by the community in related research,e.g.,multi-ocean-sea-ice model performance evaluation and interannual variation in oceans driven by prescribed atmospheric forcing.

i4Ocean: transfer function-based interactive visualization of ocean temperature and salinity volume data

In this paper,we present a novel ocean visualization framework,which focuses on analyzing multidimensional and spatiotemporal ocean data.GPU-based visualization methods are explored to effectively visualize ocean data.An improved ray casting algorithm for heterogeneous multisection ocean volume data is presented.A two-layer spherical shell is taken as the ocean data proxy geometry,which enables oceanographers to obtain a real geographic background based on global terrain.An efficient ray sampling technique including an adaptive sampling technique and a preintegrated transfer function is proposed to achieve high-effectiveness and high-efficiency rendering.Moreover,an interactive transfer function is also designed to analyze the 3D structure of ocean temperature and salinity anomaly phenomena.Based on the framework,an integrated visualization system called i4Ocean is created.The visualization of ocean temperature and salinity anomalies extracted interactively by the transfer function is demonstrated.

The Evolution of Water Property in the Mackenzie Bay Polynya During Antarctic Winter

Temperature and salinity profile data, collected by southern elephant seals equipped with autonomous CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers(CTD-SRDLs) during the Antarctic wintertime in 2011 and 2012, were used to study the evolution of water property and the resultant formation of the high density water in the Mackenzie Bay polynya(MBP) in front of the Amery Ice Shelf(AIS). In late March the upper 100–200 m layer is characterized by strong halocline and inversion thermocline. The mixed layer keeps deepening up to 250 m by mid-April with potential temperature remaining nearly the surface freezing point and sea surface salinity increasing from 34.00 to 34.21. From then on until mid-May, the whole water column stays isothermally at about^(-1).90℃while the surface salinity increases by a further 0.23. Hereafter the temperature increases while salinity decreases along with the increasing depth both by 0.1 order of magnitude vertically. The upper ocean heat content ranging from 120.5 to 2.9 MJ m^(-2), heat flux with the values of 9.8–287.0 W m^(-2) loss and the sea ice growth rates of 4.3–11.7 cm d^(-1) were estimated by using simple 1-D heat and salt budget methods. The MBP exists throughout the whole Antarctic winter(March to October) due to the air-sea-ice interaction, with an average size of about 5.0×10~3 km^2. It can be speculated that the decrease of the salinity of the upper ocean may occur after October each year. The recurring sea-ice production and the associated brine rejection process increase the salinity of the water column in the MBP progressively, resulting in, eventually, the formation of a large body of high density water.