A Decade of Sea Surface Salinity
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- Visualizations by:
- Alex Kekesi
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Nadya Vinogradova-Shiffer
- View full credits
This 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.
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.
Climate Indicators Coastal Processes Cryology Cryosphere Cryospheric Indicators Earth Science Hydrology Hydrosphere Hyperwall Oceans Physical oceanography River Rivers/Streams Salinity Salinity/Density Salt Salt Transport Saltwater Intrusion Sea Ice Sea ice Motion surface water Terrestrial Hydrosphere
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Data visualizers
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
- Mark SubbaRao (NASA/GSFC)
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Scientist
- Nadya Vinogradova-Shiffer (NASA/HQ) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
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Data provider
- Jinbo Wang (NASA/JPL)
Datasets used in this visualization
Comiso's Daily Sea Ice Concentration
Data Compilation OISSS_L4_multimission_7day_v1 (A.K.A. Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity Global Dataset V1) (Collected with the SMAP/SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, SAC-D/AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER, SMOS/SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER sensor)
Credit: Creator: Oleg Melnichenko
Dataset can be found at: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/OISSS_L4_multimission_7day_v1
See more visualizations using this data setData Compilation Natural Earth River Data
Dataset can be found at: naturalearthdata.com
See more visualizations using this data setNote: 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.
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