AI13A:
Ocean Salinity and Its Role in Ocean Dynamics and the Water Cycle III


Session ID#: 36661

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:  Severine Fournier, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States and Paul James Durack, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Australia
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Eric J Bayler, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR, College Park, MD, United States
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:

Impacts of broad-scale surface freshening of the Southern Ocean in a coupled climate model (303772)
Ariaan Purich1,2, Matthew H England2, Wenju Cai1, Arnold Sullivan1 and Paul James Durack3, (1)CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Australia, (2)ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Sydney, Australia, (3)Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison, Livermore, CA, United States
Vertical Redistribution of Global Ocean Salt Content (313510)
Chao Liu1, Xinfeng Liang1, Rui M Ponte2 and Christopher G Piecuch3, (1)University of South Florida Tampa, College of Marine Science, St Petersburg, FL, United States, (2)Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Lexington, MA, United States, (3)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States
Study of Riverine Freshwater Effects in the Global Ocean (315735)
Qiang Sun1, Michael M Whitney1 and Frank Bryan2, (1)University of Connecticut, Marine Sciences, Groton, CT, United States, (2)National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States

See more of: Air-Sea Interactions