Aquarius Sea Surface Salinity 2011-2015
- Visualizations by:
- Cheng Zhang
- Scientific consulting by:
- Gene Feldman
- View full credits
The visualizations show the complete observations of sea surface salinity taken during the life span (2011 through May 2015) of the Aquarius spacecraft. In these visualizations, sea surface salinity is shown ranging from 30 to 40 PSU (from blue to green to red) on a flat map using simple cartesian and extended Molleide projections. The visualizations were generated based on version 4.0 of the Aquarius data products. Salinity plays a major role in how ocean waters circulate around the globe. Salinity changes can create ocean circulation changes that, in turn, may impact regional and global climates.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Animators
- Cheng Zhang (USRA) [Lead]
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
- Kel Elkins (USRA)
Scientist
- Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
Datasets used in this visualization
Aquarius SSS (A.K.A. Sea Surface Salinity) (Collected with the Microwave Radiometer sensor)
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Related pages
A Decade of Sea Surface Salinity
Aug. 25th, 2022
Read moreThis data visualization shows sea surface salinity (i.e., ocean salt concentration) over a ten year period (2011 to 2021). Warm colors (orange to yellow) are areas of high salinity/hot tropics. Cooler colors (blue to violet) are fresher waters, many of which can be seen coming from rainy/river/wetter tropics. Sea Surface Salinity (i.e., ocean salt) colorbar. Date overlay for above data visualization. Example composite animation using the colorbar and date overlays. The heat of the sun forces evaporation at the ocean's surface, which puts water vapor into the atmosphere but leaves minerals and salts behind, keeping the ocean salty. The salinity of the ocean also varies from place to place, because evaporation varies based on the sea surface temperature and wind, rivers and rain storms inject fresh water into the ocean, and melting or freezing sea ice affects the salinity of polar waters. Related pages