JPL AQUARIUS

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Funded under NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, the Aquarius instrument will collect sea surface salinity (SSS) data over the global oceans. SSS is key to understanding the water cycle because 86% of global evaporation and 78% of global precipitation occur over the oceans. Together with in-water profiles from the ARGO system, scientists will have an unprecedented three-dimensional view of ocean salinity patterns. With these data and advanced computer models, we will discover how our oceans are tied to water cycle and climate. In anticipation of the 2010 launch of Aquarius, our education technology team has developed a set of interactive tools using historical salinity, temperature, and density data sets (NOAA World Ocean Atlas & Database, 2005). These data are available as three distinct yet complementary tools that highlight: (1) spatial patterns of long-term mean data; (2) annual cycle of monthly mean data; and (3) change over time of yearly mean data. Each interactive tool has its own "Tutorial" slide show.
Q & A:

Spatial patterns:
	ANNUAL MEAN MAPS & IN-WATER PROFILES FOR SALINITY - TEMPERATURE - DENSITY Interactive maps of surface conditions can be clicked to create in-water profiles of salinity, temperature, or density. Sources include interpolated atlas data or actual measurements from the database.

Annual cycle:
	MONTHLY MEAN MAPS & TIME-SERIES PLOTS FOR SALINITY - TEMPERATURE - DENSITY Create global maps of mean conditions for any month at designated depths (down to 1500m) using the pull-down menus. Monthly time-series graphs of salinity, temperature, or density can be plotted by selecting up to six locations (by clicking on the map or typing latitude/latitude information into the fields below). These time-series plots can also represent up to six different depths. Plotted data will also be shown in a table that is easily downloaded (e.g., into Excel). Sources include interpolated atlas data or actual measurements from the database.

Change over time:
	ANNUAL CYCLE MAPS & TIME-SERIES PLOTS FOR SALINITY - TEMPERATURE - DENSITY Create global maps of mean conditions for any year(s) from 1800 to 2005 at designated depths (down to 1500m) using the pull-down menus. Annual time-series graphs of salinity, temperature, or density can be plotted by selecting up to six locations (by clicking on the map or typing latitude/latitude information into the fields below). These time-series plots can also represent up to six different depths. Plotted data will also be shown in a table that is easily downloaded (e.g., into Excel). Source is actual, non-interpolated database measurements.

References

This page, http://aquarius.jpl.nasa.gov/, is maintained by JPLAQUARIUS Webmaster and was last modified on March 18, 2008