NASA Salinity: Home

Pioneering Salinity Measurements
Aquarius was NASA's first satellite-based instrument to detect sea surface salinity. Operating at the same wavelength, Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) was launched four years later in 2015. They have provided a continuous record of essential information on our ocean, water cycle, and climate. »

Pioneering Salinity Measurements »

Global Data
Aquarius and SMAP have produced a wealth of data products. In addition to salinity, maps of sea surface density, soil moisture, and radio frequency interference (RFI) are available in the Data Gallery. »

Global Data »

NASA Study Adds Salt to El Niño Models
When modeling the El Niño-Southern Oscillation ocean-climate cycle, adding saltiness significantly improves model accuracy. »

NASA Study Adds Salt to El Niño Models »

How Does Salinity Affect Our Lives?
Visit our "Highlights" section to learn about the societal relevance of salinity measurements. »

How Does Salinity Affect Our Lives? »

How Salty (or Fresh) Are You?
Take our four-question quiz to discover which habitat and organism most closely matches your own preferences. »

How Salty (or Fresh) Are You? »

Students studying the properties of water

"Learn More" About Salinity
Explore thematic salinity-related resources including hands-on activities, online activities, images, movies, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and articles. »

"Learn More" About Salinity »

Field Campaigns
NASA's salinity program spans from sea to space. For example, field campaigns have provided detailed insights into the processes that alter salinity by moving freshwater into and out of our ocean. »

Field Campaigns »

Salt is essential. Circulating through our bodies and our seas, it impacts the health of people and the planet. Salt dissolved in seawater – measured as salinity – drives currents that distribute heat and carbon around the globe. So, salt not only preserves our food, it helps to preserve our climate by contributing to global ocean circulation.

Earth is an ocean planet. Key water cycle processes – precipitation and evaporation – mostly occur over the ocean. Thus, monitoring sea surface salinity patterns provides important clues about changes in our environment.

NASA observes salinity. Merging data from satellites and other instruments, our mission is to better understand ocean circulation, the water cycle, and climate.

Latest News »

NASA Study Adds a Pinch of Salt to El Niño Models (07-Apr-20).

JPL SMAP Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) CAP V4.3 Dataset Release (18-Mar-20). The PO.DAAC is pleased to announce the availability of the PI-produced JPL V4.3 SMAP Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) and extreme winds data.

SMAP Satellite Identifies Thailand’s Worst Drought in Decades (15-Feb-20). SMAP data are used to identify Thailand's worst drought in possibly four decades.

NASA Earth Observatory

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Recent Publications »

Gentemann, C., Scott, J., Mazzini, P., Pianca, C., Akella, S., Minnett, P., Cornillon, P., Fox-Kemper, B., Cetinić, I., Chin, T., Gomez-Valdes, J., Vazquez-Cuervo, J., Tsontos, V., Yu, L., Jenkins, R., De Halleux, S., Peacock, D., and Cohen, N. (2020). Saildrone: Adaptively Sampling the Marine Environment

AMS

Grodsky, S.A., Reul, N., Vandemark, D., and Bentamy, A. (2020). Intramonth Oscillations of Atlantic ITCZ observed in SMAP Satellite Salinity

Taylor & Francis

Hackert, E., Kovach, R.M., Molod, A., Vernieres, G., Borovikov, A., Marshak, J., and Chang, Y. (2020). Satellite Sea Surface Salinity Observations Impact on El Niño/Southern Oscillation Predictions: Case Studies From the NASA GEOS Seasonal Forecast System

AGU

Katsura, S. and Sprintall, J. (2020). Seasonality and Formation of Barrier Layers and Associated Temperature Inversions in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific

AMS

Liu, B., Wan, W., and Hong, Y. (2020). Can the Accuracy of Sea Surface Salinity Measurement be Improved by Incorporating Spaceborne GNSS-Reflectometry?

IEEE