Education: Water Cycle Exploration
Part 1: TRMM and Aquarius
Aquarius measured the salinity of the ocean at the surface. Orange to red areas show the highest salinities, and
green to blue areas show lower salinities (see image below). The second dataset was collected by
TRMM, and measures the amount of precipitation over an area, with the darkest blue color indicating the most precipitation
(click on the image to view precipitation).There is an interesting area in the Pacific, where values of low salinity appear north of the equator, dividing the North and the South Pacific.
To determine what may be causing this area of low salinity, click on the image to compare data from Aquarius (salinity) and TRMM (precipitation).
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Part 2: TRMM and GRACE
The TRMM precipitation measurements can tell a part of the story of the water cycle - where precipitation is occurring (see
image below) - but other measurements help to understand the bigger picture. GRACE precisely measures the Earth's gravity to
reveal places where there is a large amount of change in the amount of water present during the year (click on the image to
view change in water storage). The areas of darkest red have the most change over time.To look at the effect of precipitation on land, click on the image to compare data from GRACE (change in water storage) with TRMM (precipitation).
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Part 3: GRACE and Aquarius
Precipitation isn't the only part of the water cycle that can be observed through salinity measurements captured by Aquarius.
By focusing on both land and the ocean (for example with GRACE and Aquarius), more features are revealed. Click on the image
below to view 1) GRACE (change in water storage) and 2) Aquarius sea surface salinity.Questions
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