The potential of space-based sea surface salinity on monitoring the Hudson Bay Freshwater cycle ...

• Main Author: Tang, Wenqing
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Root 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Foxe Basin; Hudson Bay; Hudson Strait; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48577/jpl.d6tm8a; https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/citation?persistentId=doi:10.48577/jpl.D6TM8A

Hudson Bay (HB) is the largest semi-inland sea in Northern Hemisphere, connecting with the Arctic Ocean through the Foxe Basin and the northern Atlantic Ocean through the Hudson Strait. HB is covered by ice and snow in winter, which completely melt in summer. For about six months each year, satellite remote sensing of sea surface salinity (SSS) is possible over open water. SSS links freshwater contributions from river discharge, sea ice melt/freeze, and surface precipitation/evaporation. Given the strategic importance of HB, SSS has great potential in monitoring the HB freshwater cycle and studying its relationship with climate changes. However, SSS retrieved in polar regions (poleward of 50) from currently operational spacebased L-band microwave instruments has large uncertainty (> 1 psu) mainly due to sensitivity degradation in cold water (< 5C) and sea ice contamination. This study analyzes SSS from NASA Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) and ESA SMOS missions in the context of HB freshwater ...