Projects

NASA Ocean Salinity Science Team

Ocean salinity is an Essential Climate Variable within the Global Climate Observing System, and plays important roles in ocean physics and biogeochemistry, climate variability, and water cycle. The main goal of the NASA Ocean Salinity Science Team (OSST) is to understanding the roles of ocean salinity within the Earth system. In addition to conducting the related ocean salinity science investigations, NASA OSST also retrieves and improves sea surface salinity (SSS) measurements from NASA’s Aquarius and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellites, and develops concepts for next-generation salinity satellites to improve global SSS measurements. NASA in-situ salinity field campaigns are part of the NASA OSST effort to use satellite and in-situ SSS measurements to enhance the knowledge of salinity processes. Past field campaigns include the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Studies-1 and -2 (SPURS-1 and SPURS-2). An upcoming campaign is the NASA Arctic salinity field campaign, Salinity and Stratification at the Sea Ice Edge (SASSIE), that will include the deployment of JPL airborne sensors. The NASA OSST website is https://salinity.oceansciences.org/