Validation of SMOS salinity data and its applications the to Indian Ocean climatic events

Global Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) measurements retrieved from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are the highest resolution salinity data available at regular intervals at present from space. There are many challenges to measuring SSS from space and obtaining an accuracy of 0.1 psu. Comparisons of level 2 SMOS salinity data with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) simulations of SSS reveal large differences which should be corrected by spatial and temporal averaging during the creation of Level 3 (L3) SMOS data. SMOS Level 2 (L2) salinity data will have difficulty detecting SSS variations during climatic events in the Indian Ocean but the expected resolutions obtainable by SMOS should be able to monitor variations during intraseasonal and seasonal climatic events. The role of salinity during many oceanic processes will be better understood by measurements from SMOS.