TY - JOUR T1 - Satellite Salinity Observing System: Recent Discoveries and the Way Forward A1 - Vinogradova,Nadya A1 - Lee,Tong A1 - Boutin,Jacqueline A1 - Drushka,Kyla A1 - Fournier,Severine A1 - Sabia,Roberto A1 - Stammer,Detlef A1 - Bayler,Eric A1 - Reul,Nicolas A1 - Gordon,Arnold A1 - Melnichenko,Oleg A1 - Li,Laifang A1 - Hackert,Eric A1 - Martin,Matthew A1 - Kolodziejczyk,Nicolas A1 - Hasson,Audrey A1 - Brown,Shannon A1 - Misra,Sidharth A1 - Lindstrom,Eric AD - NASA Headquarters, Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC, United States AD - Cambridge Climate Institute, Boston, MA, United States AD - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States AD - LOCEAN/IPSL, Sorbonne University, Paris, France AD - Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States AD - Telespazio VEGA UK Ltd., Frascati, Italy AD - Remote Sensing and Assimilation, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany AD - STAR - NOAA / NESDIS, College Park, MD, United States AD - Ifremer, Laboratory for Ocean Physics and Satellite Remote Sensing, Brest, France AD - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States AD - International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawai‘i System, Honolulu, HI, United States AD - Nicolas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States AD - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States AD - Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00498/60985/ DO - 10.3389/fmars.2019.00243 KW - salinity KW - remote sensing KW - Earth's observing systems KW - future satellite missions KW - SMAP KW - SMOS KW - Aquarius N2 - Advances in L-band microwave satellite radiometry in the past decade, pioneered by ESA’s SMOS and NASA’s Aquarius and SMAP missions, have demonstrated an unprecedented capability to observe global sea surface salinity (SSS) from space. Measurements from these missions are the only means to probe the very-near surface salinity (top cm), providing a unique monitoring capability for the interfacial exchanges of water between the atmosphere and the upper-ocean, and delivering a wealth of information on various salinity processes in the ocean, linkages with the climate and water cycle, including land-sea connections, and providing constraints for ocean prediction models. The satellite SSS data are complimentary to the existing in situ systems such as Argo that provide accurate depiction of large-scale salinity variability in the open ocean but under-sample mesoscale variability, coastal oceans and marginal seas, and energetic regions such as boundary currents and fronts. In particular, salinity remote sensing has proven valuable to systematically monitor the open oceans as well as coastal regions up to approximately 40 km from the coasts. This is critical to addressing societally relevant topics, such as land-sea linkages, coastal-open ocean exchanges, research in the carbon cycle, near-surface mixing, and air-sea exchange of gas and mass. In this paper, we provide a community perspective on the major achievements of satellite SSS for the aforementioned topics, the unique capability of satellite salinity observing system and its complementarity with other platforms, uncertainty characteristics of satellite SSS, and measurement versus sampling errors in relation to in situ salinity measurements. We also discuss the need for technological innovations to improve the accuracy, resolution, and coverage of satellite SSS, and the way forward to both continue and enhance salinity remote sensing as part of the integrated Earth Observing System in order to address societal needs. Y1 - 2019/05 PB - Frontiers Media SA JF - Frontiers In Marine Science SN - 2296-7745 VL - 6 IS - 243 ID - 60985 ER -