Title: Quantifying the accuracy of satellite-observed sea surface salinity against in situ observations by saildrones

Presenter(s): Andrew Dixon, CESSRST II Graduate Fellow 

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Abstract: 

Sea surface salinity (SSS) regulates upper-ocean stratification, influencing vertical mixing and the heat exchange critical to the development of tropical cyclones. Satellite salinity observations from NASA’s SMAP observatory offer global coverage and have been validated for general conditions in certain areas, but benefit from validation under storm conditions. This study uses NOAA Saildrones (uncrewed surface vehicles), capable of targeting specific storms and collecting near-continuous data, to compare in situ SSS with two SMAP products. Results show strong agreement with the 8-day averaged dataset and moderate but positive agreement with the near-real-time product. Collocations during storm encounters indicate that SMAP could be useful in tropical cyclone forecasting. By validating satellite data with uncrewed systems, this work advances NOAA’s mission of enabling a weather-ready nation through expanded hurricane predictions and fostering collaborations for future satellite data validation projects.

The results are from the NOAA EPP/MSI CSCNERTO graduate internship project that was conducted with NOAA mentor, Dr. Chidong Zhang of NOAA Research’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The NERTO aligns with NOAA CSC CESSRST-II’s goal of conducting NOAA mission-aligned collaborative research to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts. The NERTO “Quantifying the accuracy of satellite observed sea surface salinity against in situ observations by Saildrones” also deepened the intern’s understanding of NOAA’s databases and development steps toward further use of uncrewed systems.