Sea Surface Salinity Variations Under the ITCZ on Synoptic Time Scales

Sea surface salinity variations under the ITCZ on seasonal timescale has been studied in recent years due to more data available from Aquarius, SMOS satellites and Argo observations. On seasonal time scales, ITCZ is considered nearly in steady state. However, ITCZ in the central to eastern Pacific is highly active on synoptic timescales from May to October, with continuous breakdowns and re-forms. The life span of the ITCZ is observed from few days to three weeks. In this study, we generate the 1/3 degree daily salinity maps from Aquarius observations to analyze the salinity variations under the Pacific ITCZ on synoptic time scale and examine the salinity signature associated with the ITCZ breakdown.