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What's Next for Salinity?Grade level: 9-12
Theme:
21st century technologyArticle:
documents/21.1_clivar.pdf
CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability) is an international research effort focusing on the variability and predictability of the slowly varying components of the climate system. As part of the US contribution to CLIVAR, a Salinity Working Group was formed and charged with:
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| 1. | Describing the role of ocean salinity in the global water cycle, global ocean circulation, and climate variability; |
| 2. | Identifying the requirements and challenges for analyzing, observing, and monitoring salinity, as well as simulating processes critical for determining the ocean's role in the transport and storage of salinity; and |
| 3. | Providing guidance to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (and the international community) on observational and scientific activities that should be considered in advance of, and during, the Aquarius mission to improve measurement, analysis, and use of salinity information for the above purposes. |
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To achieve these goals, sessions on salinity were held at the 2006 and 2008 Ocean Sciences Meetings as well as a workshop at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in May 2006. In July 2007, a CLIVAR white paper on salinity was published (
US CLIVAR
Report No. 2007-1). The summary
and principal recommendations of that
report are provided here.
Read and discuss the Priority Recommendations section (p. 83-85).
Student Outcomes
After reading this article, students should be able to:
Explain that ocean science is interdisciplinary and requires new ways of thinking. (T: 9-12)
Key: C = climate / O = ocean circulation / T = 21st century technology / W = water cycle