| Paper: | TH-A1.14 |
| Session: | Applications of Radiometry I |
| Time: | Thursday, March 29, 09:00 - 10:20 |
| Presentation: |
Poster
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| Topic: |
Theory, physical principles and electromagnetic models: |
| Title: |
SALINITY RAIN IMPACT MODEL (RIM) FOR SMAP |
| Authors: |
Maria Jacob; Facultad de Matematica, Astronomia y Fisica, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba | | |
| | W. Linwood Jones; University of Central Florida | | |
| | Kyla Drushka; University of Washington | | |
| | William Asher; University of Washington | | |
| | Marcelo Scavuzzo; Facultad de Matematica, Astronomia y Fisica, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba | | |
| Abstract: |
When rain falls on top of the ocean, it creates a vertical salinity profile that is fresher at the surface. This fresh water will be mixed downward by turbulent diffusion, dissipating over a few hours until the upper layer (1-5 m depth) becomes well mixed. Thus, there will be a transient bias between the in-situ bulk salinity and the satellite-measured SSS (representative of the first cm of the ocean depth).
Based on measurements of Aquarius (AQ) SSS under rainy conditions, a rain impact model (RIM) was developed to estimate the change in SSS due to the accumulation of rainfall previous to the time of the AQ observation. RIM uses ocean surface salinities from HYCOM (Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model) and the NOAA global precipitation product CMORPH, to model transient changes in the near-surface salinity profile. Also, the RIM analysis has been applied to SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) with similar results observed.
The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite carries an L-band radiometer, which measures sea surface salinity (SSS) over a swath of 1000 km @ 40 km resolution. SMAP can extend AQ salinity data record with improved temporal/spatial sampling.
This paper will describe RIM that simulates the effects of rain accumulation on SMAP SSS, showing good correlation between the model and the observed SSS values. Also, comparisons between RIM at different depths and in-situ data will be presented. Given the better resolution of SMAP, the goal of this paper is to continue the analysis previously done with AQ to better understand the effects of the instantaneous and accumulated rain on the salinity measurements.
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