Sea surface salinity could provide new insight into severe storms

NASA scientists are looking into the possibility of using remotely sensed sea surface salinity (SSS) data to help improve their understanding of how hurricanes form in the Northwestern Tropical Atlantic – a hotbed of hurricane activity. New studies illustrate how changes in SSS can be used to track Atlantic storms, emphasizing the role of salinity stratification in driving upper-ocean dynamics and hurricane evolution.

Data Sources: L-band radiometer data from the NASA SMAP and ESA-SMOS satellites

NASA

Publications

Fournier, S., D. Vandemark, L. Gaultier, T. Lee, B. Jonsson, and M. M. Gierach (2017). Interannual Variation in Offshore Advection of Amazon‐Orinoco Plume Waters: Observations, Forcing Mechanisms, and Impacts. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 113(C2), doi:1029/2007JC004178

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James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

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