NASA has measured the salinity – dissolved salt content in seawater – at the ocean surface since 2011. Salinity patterns reveal important information about changes in Earth's water cycle, ocean circulation, and climate. The broad spectrum of science and engineering topics associated with this seemingly "simple" spaceborne measurement has resulted in hundreds of peer-reviewed publications. The pioneering Aquarius instrument on the SAC-D satellite was specifically designed to detect global ocean salinity, which is extremely challenging to measure accurately from space. NASA's salinity measurements have continued, thanks to NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. SMAP collects data at the same frequency (L-band) used by Aquarius but employs different technology.

This webinar will provide an overview of the similarities and differences between salinity data collected by Aquarius and SMAP. It will also include demonstrations of NASA's Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) tools that can be used to visualize various salinity datasets. To discover and access NASA physical oceanography data, information services and tools: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov