Category: Ocean and climate news

A news posted on the Esa website highlights new results from the SMOS satellite. Combined with currents data, it provides a better knowledge of the meanders of the Gulf Stream.

Since 3 years, the Esa's SMOS mission provides information on global soil moisture and ocean salinity. Thanks to its high resolution and frequent revisits, SMOS helps to measure accurately the ocean density, the exchanges of salt in the current boundaries and so a better knowledge of the ocean circulation. Merged with currents data (Ekman currents and geostrophic currents from altimetry), the salinity data show new results with finer meanders in the Gulf Stream: "The warm, salty water being carried north by the Gulf Stream meets the colder, less-salty water transported southward along North America’s east coast by the Labrador Current, mixing the water masses off Cape Hatteras".

Sea surface salinity from SMOS and total currents (from OSCAR, Ekman + geostrophic). Credits Ifremer/Esa.

Further information: 

• Esa website: <link http: www.esa.int our_activities observing_the_earth smos smos_the_global_success_story_continues _blank external-link-new-window>SMOS, the global success continues, with an animation superimposing the salinity and currents over the Gulf Stream.
• Image of the month, <link internal-link>January 2013: Salinity gets finer with altimetry