PO41C:
Ocean Salinity and Water Cycle Variability and Change IV


Session ID#: 11448

Session Description:
This session highlights new research investigating observed and modeled ocean variability and change, focusing on ocean salinity as an important driver of ocean circulation and upper­ocean mixing and a key indicator of the global water cycle. Recent observations, historical measurements, and model simulations have revealed oceanic variability and change on short (daily to seasonal) and longer (interannual to climate, >30­year) timescales. The SMOS and Aquarius/SAC­-D satellite missions present an unprecedented opportunity to monitor surface salinity and elucidate the ocean processes driving salinity variations on numerous timescales. Satellites complement in situ observations and process­ oriented field experiments, allowing researchers to develop a detailed understanding of the causes and consequences of salinity variability. Contributions are invited on all aspects of ocean salinity variations from the perspective of in situ and satellite observations, numerical models, and data assimilation. The session will focus on the following themes: new oceanographic insights based on SMOS and Aquarius satellite data; new process-­based insights obtained from field studies; the role of salinity in thermohaline circulation, upper ­ocean stratification, and ocean dynamics; links between salinity variability and global and regional climate variability modes and the fingerprint of long­ term change; and the assimilation of salinity observations into ocean models.
Primary Chair:  Paul James Durack, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States
Chairs:  Nicolas Reul, IFREMER, Plouzané, France, Hailong Liu, University of Miami/CIMAS, NOAA/AOML, Miami, FL, United States and Kyla Drushka, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
Moderators:  Kyla Drushka, University of Washington, Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, United States and Nicolas Reul, IFREMER, Plouzané, France
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Hailong Liu, University of Miami/CIMAS, NOAA/AOML, Miami, FL, United States
Index Terms:

4504 Air/sea interactions [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4513 Decadal ocean variability [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4572 Upper ocean and mixed layer processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4594 Instruments and techniques [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • A - Air-sea Interactions and Upper Ocean Processes
  • IS - Instrumentation & Sensing Technologies
  • PC - Past, Present and Future Climate
  • TE - Tropical and Equatorial Environments

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

PO41C-01
Ocean to land moisture transport is reflected in sea surface salinity (87745)
Raymond W Schmitt, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States, Julian J Schanze, Earth and Space Research, Seattle, WA, United States, Laifang Li, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States and Caroline Ummenhofer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Physical Oceanography Department, Woods Hole, MA, United States
PO41C-02
Are Surface Waters Around Greenland Getting Saltier in a Warming Climate? (89018)
Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, Rui M Ponte, Christopher G Piecuch and Christopher M Little, Atmospheric and Environmental Research Lexington, Lexington, MA, United States
PO41C-03
Variations of the Tropical Atlantic and Pacific SSS Minimum Zones and Their Relations to the ITCZ and SPCZ Rain Bands (1979-2009) (87341)
Thierry C Delcroix1, Michel Lionel Tchilibou1, Gael Alory1, Sabine Arnault2 and Gilles P Reverdin3, (1)Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, LEGOS, Toulouse, France, (2)IRD, LOCEAN, Paris, France, (3)LOCEAN Univ Paris VI boite 100, Paris, France
PO41C-04
Accelerating Salinity Trends at Station ALOHA in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (90215)
Daniel McCoy1, Fernando Santiago-Mandujano1, Albert J Plueddemann2, Robert A Weller2 and Roger Lukas1, (1)University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, (2)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
PO41C-05
A New Long-Term Atlantic Surface Salinity Record Reveals An Intensification Of The Mean Salinity Field (89655)
Myriam Khodri, LOCEAN-IPSL, Paris cedex 05, France, Andrew Ronald Friedman, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Paris, France and Gilles P Reverdin, LOCEAN Univ Paris VI boite 100, Paris, France
PO41C-06
Comparing 60-year, 30-year, and 10-year trends in global ocean salinity - does water cycle intensification dominate the signal? (89761)
James R Reagan1, Tim Boyer2 and Melissa Zweng2, (1)Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, COLLEGE PARK, MD, United States, (2)National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly NODC), NESDIS/NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, United States
PO41C-07
Rapid Amplification of the Global Water Cycle with Warming Inferred from Changes in the Width of the Salinity Distribution in Observations and CMIP5 Models (89812)
Nikolaos Skliris, University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom, Jan David Zika, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, A. J. George Nurser, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, Robert Marsh, National Oceanography Center, Soton, Southampton, United Kingdom and Simon A Josey, National Oceanography Center, Southampton, United Kingdom
PO41C-08
Drivers of Pacific-Atlantic basin contrasts in long-term salinity changes (93801)
Paul James Durack1, Peter J Gleckler1 and Eric Guilyardi2, (1)Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States, (2)LOCEAN-IPSL, Paris, France
See more of: Physical Oceanography/Ocean Circulation