Sea surface salinity signatures of tropical instability waves: New evidences from SMOS
Résumé
Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) measurements from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission during 3 years (June 2010-May 2013) provide an unprecedented opportunity to observe the salinity structure of Tropical Instability Waves (TIWs) from space. The variations of SMOS SSS signals follow Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) SSS signals with high correlation coefficients and close peak amplitudes at 5 locations where strong TIW signals are observed in TAO SSS. The east-west contrast in peak amplitudes of SMOS SSS signals is stronger than OSTIA SST signals. Band of negative correlations between SSS and SST signals appears just north of the equator west of 100°W and around 8°N west of 110°W for the 33-day signals.