Animation: Sea Surface Salinity (Saltiness) Comparison (2015-2017)

Oct. 19, 2021

This animation compares sea surface salinity (saltiness) data between NASA's ECCO project and NASA's SMAP mission from 2015 to 2017. Yellows and reds represent more salinity, while greens and blues represent less salinity. Also, the ECCO data are daily averages, and the SMAP data are eight-day running averages (averages that are used to filter out noise from the data).

Salinity drives currents that distribute heat and carbon around the globe. So, salt not only preserves our food, but it also helps preserve our climate by contributing to global ocean circulation. Learn more about sea surface salinity: https://salinity.oceansciences.org/.

The datasets are accessible here:

https://doi.org/10.5067/ECG5D-SSH44 (DOI:10.5067/ECG5D-SSH44)

https://doi.org/10.5067/SMP50-3TPCS (DOI:10.5067/SMP50-3TPCS).