AI12A:
Ocean Salinity and Its Role in Ocean Dynamics and the Water Cycle II


Session ID#: 36655

Session Description:
This session highlights research investigating ocean salinity as a key parameter that links various elements of the water cycle to ocean circulation dynamics and climate. Contributions are invited on all aspects of ocean salinity investigations, including analyses undertaken from in situ and satellite observations, numerical models, and data assimilation. We particularly welcome contributions that have utilized sea-surface salinity (SSS) measurements from the recent pathfinder satellite missions (SMOS, Aquarius/SAC-D, and SMAP), as well as observations collected during the SPURS (Salinity Processes Upper-ocean Regional Study) experiment and other field campaigns. The session will focus on: recent progress from salinity remote sensing; new process-based insights from field observations; salinity-driven thermohaline circulation, upper-ocean stratification, and related ocean dynamics; links between salinity and global and regional climate variability; the water cycle, as well as the fingerprint of long-term change; salinity assimilation into ocean models; and the scientific imperative for future salinity measurement continuity and enhancement.
Primary Chair:  Paul James Durack, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States
Co-chairs:  Eric J Bayler, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR, College Park, MD, United States, Jacqueline Boutin, LOCEAN, Paris Cedex 05, France and Severine Fournier, JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States
Moderators:  Jacqueline Boutin, CNRS, LOCEAN/UPMC, Paris, France and Severine Fournier, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Paul James Durack, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Australia
Index Terms:

1610 Atmosphere [GLOBAL CHANGE]
1635 Oceans [GLOBAL CHANGE]
1655 Water cycles [GLOBAL CHANGE]
4504 Air/sea interactions [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • PL - Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Larger
  • PS - Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Smaller
  • RS - Regional Studies

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Variability of the South Pacific SSS Maximum (306992)
Frederick Bingham, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, United States, Julius Johannes Marian Busecke, Columbia University in the City of New York, Palisades, NY, United States, Arnold L Gordon, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, Claudia Fabiana Giulivi, Columbia University of New York, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Zhijin Li, JPL, Pasadena, CA, United States
How is salinity stratification affected by surrounding precipitation variability? (325431)
Elizabeth Jennifer Thompson1, Kyla Drushka1, William Asher2, Andy T Jessup2, Julian J Schanze3 and Dan Clark2, (1)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (2)Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (3)Earth and Space Research, Seattle, WA, United States

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