March 20, 2006
Move over, Superman, with your X-ray vision. Marine scientists
have figured out a way to see through the ocean's surface and
detect what's below, with the help of satellites.
Using sensor data from several U.S. and European satellites,
researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.;
the University of Delaware, Newark; and Ocean University of China, Qingdao;
have developed a method to detect salty, submerged eddies called "Meddies"
that occur in the Atlantic Ocean off Spain and Portugal at depths of
more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile).
These warm, deep-water whirlpools, part of the ocean's complex circulatory
system, help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth's climate. The
research marks the first time scientists have detected this phenomenon
from space, and the first use of a new multi-sensor technique that can
track changes in ocean salinity. Results are reported in the April issue
of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Physical Oceanography.
"Since Meddies play a significant role in carrying salty water from the
Mediterranean into the Atlantic, new knowledge about their trajectories,
transport and life histories is important to understanding their mixing
and interaction with North Atlantic water," said Professor Xiao-Hai Yan
of the University of Delaware, lead author of the study and co-director
of the university's Center for Remote Sensing. "Ultimately, we hope this
will lead to a better understanding of their impact on global ocean
circulation and global climate change."
First identified in 1978, Meddies are so named because they flow out of the
Mediterranean Sea. A typical Meddy averages about 600 meters (2,000 feet)
deep and 100 kilometers (60 miles) in diameter, and contains more than 900
billion kilograms (a billion tons) of salt.
While warm water ordinarily resides at the ocean's surface, the warm water
flowing out of the Mediterranean Sea has such a high salt concentration that
when it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar, it sinks to
depths of more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile) along the continental shelf.
This underwater river then separates into clockwise-flowing Meddies that may
continue to spin westward for more than two years, often coalescing with other
Meddies to form giant, salty whirlpools that may stretch for hundreds of miles.
"Since the Mediterranean Sea is much saltier than the Atlantic Ocean, the
Meddies constantly add salt to the Atlantic," Yan said. Without this steady
salt-shaker effect, he notes, the conveyor belt of ocean currents that help
distribute heat from the tropics toward the North Pole might be diminished,
resulting in colder temperatures in regions such as New England and northwestern
Europe that currently experience more temperate climates.
"There is concern about global climate change shutting down the ocean
currents that warm the Atlantic Ocean," Yan saids. "The melting of sea ice at
the North Pole could add enormous amounts of fresh water to the Atlantic,
reducing its salinity enough to slow the sinking of cooler water, which would
shut down the conveyor belt of ocean currents that help warm major regions
of the planet."
Yan and his team drew on data from several satellite sensors that can read
an important signal of a Meddy's presence. Altimeters flying aboard NASA's
Topex/Poseidon and Jason satellites and the European Space Agency's European
Remote Sensing and Environment (Envisat) satellites measured the height of the
sea surface compared to average sea level, revealing the difference in
altitude where a Meddy entered the Atlantic.
Specialized microwave radars called scatterometers, including the former
NASA Scatterometer (Nscat) on Japan's Midori-1 spacecraft and the current
SeaWinds instrument on NASA's QuikScat spacecraft, measured the surface wind
over the ocean, providing data needed to remove the surface variability "noise"
caused by the wind blowing over the ocean's surface.
"By carefully removing the stronger surface signatures of upper ocean processes,
we were able to unveil the surface signatures of deeper ocean processes, such as
the Meddies, to these space-based sensors," said Dr. W. Timothy Liu,
QuikScat project scientist at JPL.
The scientists also analyzed data provided by an infrared spectrometer known
as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, which flies aboard National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites. This instrument maps heat
emitted by the ocean's top layer and showed the increase in temperature from a
warm Meddy before it began sinking.
While the technique is not yet 100 percent accurate, Yan and his colleagues are
continuing to refine it, and are exploring its application to other coastal regions
of the world. They are currently examining salinity variations in the East China
Sea before and after the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the
world. The data will help researchers assess the dam's impacts on the ecosystem
and on water circulation patterns.
For more information, visit:
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov ; and
http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Alan Buis (818) 354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Tracey Bryant (302) 831-8185
University of Delaware, Newark
2006-040