Is the ocean salty? This satellite tells you

At 6:42 on November 14, the Ocean Salinity Detection Satellite was successfully launched at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The Ocean Salinity Detection Satellite is a scientific research satellite in the national civil space infrastructure, also known as Ocean No. 4 01. It is also China's first ocean dynamic environment satellite used to detect ocean salinity . The satellite is equipped with a comprehensive aperture radiometer, active and passive detectors and other payloads.

Image source: CCTV News

Why do we need to monitor ocean salinity?

The flow of seawater in the ocean forms a large, reciprocating conveyor belt, which allows heat and matter to circulate in the world's oceans, becoming a key link in regulating the global climate system. Ocean salinity is a very important dynamic environmental parameter in the ocean system and is of great significance for studying the laws of ocean movement . However, ocean dynamic factors change in real time and require large-scale, long-term continuous monitoring. Existing shore-based and ship-based monitoring can hardly meet global monitoring requirements.

The ocean salinity detection satellite can obtain global, large-scale, and highly timely ocean salinity and soil moisture information, meeting the urgent needs of multiple industries and business departments such as ocean, disaster reduction, agriculture, emergency management, and meteorology, and providing important technical support for my country's implementation of marine resource development, disaster prevention, and environmental monitoring. It will also strengthen our understanding of the ocean, complete an important part of the detection of marine dynamic environmental elements, and provide important data support for my country's ocean, meteorological, and environmental fields.

After being launched into orbit, it will fill the gap in China's high-precision global ocean salinity detection capabilities. The global ocean salinity information obtained by the satellite will also play an important role in the international earth observation system. In addition, the long-term accumulation of ocean salinity data can further improve the accuracy of medium- and long-term climate forecasts and further reduce the economic losses caused by marine disasters .

Comprehensive sources: CCTV News, Beijing Daily, China Academy of Space Technology, etc.