Variation of summertime sea surface salinity of the Arctic Ocean during 2011-2017

Abstract

The salinity of the Arctic Ocean is influenced by the fresh water input from sea ice melting, river discharge and precipitation, and its variation could provide a useful reference for the study of changes in Arctic environment. Since the SMOS satellite launched in 2009, there have been three microwave salinity satellites (Aquarius, SMOS and SMAP satellites) that could provide us sea surface salinity (SSS) data from space. In this study, we compared the SSS products derived from these three salinity satellites: the Aquarius satellite data have a limited spatial resolution and a short time series of less than 5 years, the SMOS SSS product for the Arctic from Barcelona Expert Center provide a 7-year record of the Arctic SSS in 2011-2017, the SMAPSSS data is more sensitive in low salinity regions. With the data from the SMAP and SMOS satellites, we presented a general view on summertime SSS variation during 2011-2017 in the Arctic area. The SSS maps showed that the SSS mainly varied in the plume area and were stable in the Arctic open sea. Satellite-derived salinity could detect the extremely low SSS area caused by sea ice melting and continental runoff. We extracted the ice-melt water area by combing the microwave salinity satellite data and the ocean color satellite data, which could exclude the continental fresh water input. The result showed consistence with sea ice concentration and former literature. The distribution of the ice-melt water could be of great significance for the study of Arctic sea ice anomaly and relative biogeochemical changes.