SMOS salinity in the subtropical North Atlantic salinity maximum. Part II: Two-dimensional horizontal thermohaline variability

International audience The horizontal thermohaline seasonal variability of the surface ocean is investigated in the subtropical North Atlantic Surface Salinity Maximum (SSSmax) region. Satellite sea surface temperature and salinity are used, along with high-resolution thermosalinograph data, and Arg...

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Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Main Authors: Kolodziejczyk, Nicolas, N., Hernandez, Olga, Boutin, Jacqueline, Reverdin, Gilles
Other Authors: Interactions et Processus au sein de la couche de Surface Océanique (IPSO), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-10-EQPX-0040,NAOS,Observations de l'océan global pour l'étude et la prévision de l'océan et du climat: préparation de la nouvelle décennie d'Argo(2010)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01121855
https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01121855/document
https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01121855/file/Kolodziejczyk_2015_SMOS_salinity_in.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010103
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Summary:International audience The horizontal thermohaline seasonal variability of the surface ocean is investigated in the subtropical North Atlantic Surface Salinity Maximum (SSSmax) region. Satellite sea surface temperature and salinity are used, along with high-resolution thermosalinograph data, and Argo interpolated products, to study the horizontal two-dimensional field of density and thermohaline variability. During late winter, compensated temperature and salinity gradients at large and mesoscale are observed northeast of the SSSmax, in the Azores Front Current region. In spite of the large and sharp surface thermohaline fronts, satellite measurements reveal a rather weak surface horizontal density gradient. During summer, the front is dominated by salinity gradients. South of the SSSmax, at large scales, the density ratio is controlled by the salinity gradient and the horizontal density gradient is enhanced by a constructive contribution of opposite salinity and temperature gradients.