Salinity Effect on Ocean Surface Carbon Dioxide Fugacity

Abstract:

Sea surface salinity (SSS) measured by Aquarius and the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) over global ocean is used to characterize the change of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide at sea (pCO2sea). A statistical model on satellite retrieval of pCO2sea is used to examine the relation between the two parameters over two selected regions. One is the tropical western Atlantic, where hydrological forcing by Amazon River discharge causes major changes, and the other is the equatorial eastern Pacific, where ocean thermodynamics is more important. In both regions, pCO2sea tracks SSS closely in seasonal and year-to-year changes. In the Pacific, tropical instability wave is a major factor in the high frequency changes of both parameters. The manifestations of this relation in ocean-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange and ocean acidification are explored.