Éditeur(s) : IEEE
Résumé : Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, European Space Agency, is the first satellite mission addressing the challenge of measuring sea surface salinity from space. It uses an L-band microwave interferometric radiometer with aperture synthesis (MIRAS) that generates brightness temperature images, from which both geophysical variables are computed. The retrieval of salinity requires very demanding performances of the instrument in terms of calibration and stability. This paper highlights the importance of ocean salinity for the Earth's water cycle and climate; provides a detailed description of the MIRAS instrument, its principles of operation, calibration, and image-reconstruction techniques; and presents the algorithmic approach implemented for the retrieval of salinity from MIRAS observations, as well as the expected accuracy of the obtained results.
Proceedings of the IEEE (0018-9219) (IEEE), 2010-05 , Vol. 98 , N. 5 , P. 649-665

Droits : 2010 IEEE – All Rights Reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00004/11482/8066.pdf
DOI:10.1109/JPROC.2009.2033096
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00004/11482/

Éditeur(s) : Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc
Résumé : We validate Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) sea surface salinity (SSS) retrieved during August 2010 from the European Space Agency SMOS processing. Biases appear close to land and ice and between ascending and descending orbits; they are linked to image reconstruction issues and instrument calibration and remain under study. We validate the SMOS SSS in conditions where these biases appear to be small. We compare SMOS and ARGO SSS over four regions far from land and ice using only ascending orbits. Four modelings of the impact of the wind on the sea surface emissivity have been tested. Results suggest that the L-band brightness temperature is not linearly related to the wind speed at high winds as expected in the presence of emissive foam, but that the foam effect is less than previously modeled. Given the large noise on individual SMOS measurements, a precision suitable for oceanographic studies can only be achieved after averaging SMOS SSS. Over selected regions and after mean bias removal, the precision on SSS retrieved from ascending orbits and averaged over 100 km $times$ 100 km and 10 days is between 0.3 and 0.5 pss far from land and sea ice borders. These results have been obtained with forward models not fitted to satellite L-band measurements, and image reconstruction and instrument calibration are expected to improve. Hence, we anticipate that deducing, from SMOS measurements, SSS maps at 200 km $times$ 200 km, 10 days resolution with an accuracy of 0.2 pss at a global scale is not out of reach.
Ieee Transactions On Geoscience And Remote Sensing (0196-2892) (Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc), 2012-05 , Vol. 50 , N. 5 , P. 1662-1675

Droits : 2012 IEEE
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00074/18557/16108.pdf
DOI:10.1109/TGRS.2012.2184546
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00074/18557/

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : The temporal evolution and spatial distribution of surface salinity and colored detrital matter (cdm) were evaluated within and adjacent to the Amazon River Plume. Study objectives were as follows: first, to document the spatial coherence between Amazon discharge, salinity, cdm, and the nature of the salinity-cdm relationship; second, to document the temporal and spatial variability of cdm along the trajectory of the low-salinity Amazon Plume, and third, to explore the departure of cdm from conservative mixing behavior along the plume trajectory into the open ocean. Time series (2003-2007) of surface salinity estimated using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System and corresponding satellite cdm absorption (acdm) data documented a plume of freshened, colored water emanating from the Amazon. Salinity and acdm were generally coherent, but there were regions in which spatial patterns of salinity and acdm did not coincide. Salinity was oppositely phased with discharge, whereas acdm was in phase but lagged discharge and typically remained high after maximum discharge. Along the river plume trajectory, acdm was inversely correlated with salinity, yet there was considerable deviation from conservative mixing behavior during all seasons. Positive anomalies in a linear relationship between salinity and acdm corresponded to areas of enhanced satellite-retrieved net primary productivity, suggesting the importance of phytoplankton biomass or its subsequent remineralization as a source of cdm. Negative anomalies tended to predominate at the distal sections of the plume trajectories, an observation consistent with the process of photo-oxidation of cdm over observed time scales of days to weeks.
Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-07 , Vol. 116 , N. C00H02 , P. 14 p.

Droits : 2011 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00041/15218/12593.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2011JC006989
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00041/15218/