2016 Articles

The marine hydrological cycle: The ocean's floods and droughts

Gordon, Arnold L.

The sea surface salinity (SSS) displays fluctuations that are not solely in response to local air-sea flux of freshwater but also reflect ocean circulation and mixing processes. Ponte and Vinogradova (2016), using Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean output, estimate the relative roles of these forces for the global ocean. They find that the governing forces vary greatly across ocean regimes. Their research identifies features that will be addressed with enhanced SSS observations from orbiting satellites and in situ global arrays, which promise new insight into the marine water cycle and its place in the global hydrological system.