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Page Author: Robin Kovach
kovach@gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov

Research Briefs

Begin Main Content Impact of Argo Salinity Observations on Ocean Analyses Authors: Chaojiao Sun & Jossy Jacob - Aquarius Workshop May 2006 (Power Point Presentation) Web Adaptation: Robin Kovach Three experiments were carried out to assess the impact of Argo salinity assimilation on ocean analyses using independent salinity observations: Experiment 1 (ARGO): assimilates Argo temperature and salinity, in addition to the assimilation of subsurface temperature observations (XBT and TAO moorings) and their corresponding synthetic salinity profiles. Experiment 2: (NARGO): no Argo data used, only subsurface temperature (XBT and moorings) observations and synthetic salinity profiles are assimilated. Experiment 3: (MODEL): model simulation without any assimilation. Image above left: Argo salinity observations improve the comparison with independent CTD observations in the overall salinity structure, both horizontal and vertical gradients. Image above right: The positive effect of using Argo data is clearly seen in both the mean differences and standard deviation plots between 100-200 meters, where the values are much lower for ARGO-CTD than for NARGO-CTD. Conclusions: Synthetic salinity profiles derived from Levitus T-S climatology are useful in reducing subsurface model salinity bias Argo salinity observations reduce the impact of climatology of the synthetic salinity, introducing more subsurface variability than in the MODEL or NARGO cases Subsurface salinity assimilation impacts surface salinity distribution.     Page author: Robin Kovach Email: kovach@gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov