+ Salinity Basics + Classroom Activities + Concept Map + Salinity Data & Tools + Student Outcomes + Resources + Resources in Other Languages + Webinars + Games + Educators Workshop + Posters + Inspire Chat + Links

June 2011 marked the launch of NASA's first space-based measurements of ocean salinity across the globe - an important observation for ocean and climate studies. From 650 kilometers (400 miles) above Earth's surface, Aquarius detects changes in ocean salinity as small as a "pinch" of salt in a gallon of water.

NASA Aquarius works closely with COSEE-Ocean Systems (OS) for its Education and Public Outreach (EPO) endeavors, including the webinar series described below.

Everyone knows that the ocean is salty, but did you know that salt is essential to the recipe for our entire climate and life on Earth?

Join three prominent scientists from the SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) research effort as they share their newest findings and contribute to the core understanding of ocean processes. This three-part series will explore ways in which SPURS scientists are seeking to better understand ocean salinity - which affects everything from the water cycle to climate change.

Dr. Eric Lindstrom is a Program Scientist in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. He has degrees in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1977) and Physical Oceanography from the University of Washington (1983). His scientific interests include circulation of the ocean and air-sea exchange processes. Read more about Eric here.

SPURS Chief Scientist Dr. Raymond Schmitt is a Senior Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Dr. Schmitt earned his Ph.D. in physical oceanography from the University of Rhode Island and his B.S. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests include oceanic mixing processes such as "salt fingers" and the oceanic freshwater cycle. He has been a J.S. Guggenheim fellow and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Read more about Ray here.

Dr. Fred Bingham is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His research interests include global distributions of sea surface salinity and large scale regional physical oceanography - the Kuroshio, the western North and Equatorial Pacific, and Onslow Bay, North Carolina.

---

	Click image to enlarge

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Time: 4 PM Eastern Time (1 PM Pacific Time)
Poster (PDF, 672KB)

Ever wonder what it's like to build and test instruments that operate in space? Hear it directly from the "heroes" behind the scenes of a NASA mission!

Please join Goddard Space Flight Center engineers as they discuss their work on the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite. The mission -- a collaboration between NASA and CONAE, the Space Agency of Argentina -- launched on 10-Jun-11 from the coast of California after being built and tested in the U.S., Argentina and Brazil. The primary scientific aim is to collect data on the salinity of our oceans, revealing information relevant to ocean circulation, the water cycle and climate.

In this Spanish-language webinar you will hear from three seasoned engineers - Amri Hernandez-Pellerano (Power System Electronics Designer), Shannon Rodriguez (Microwave Communications Specialist) and Fernando Pellerano (Instrument System Engineer). This concept-map based event will include tips, examples and links to resources that you can use to better understand the world of NASA and how the Agency works with international partners. Presenters will answer questions submitted by audience members in the last portion of the event.

The presentations will be targeted for high-school to undergraduate-level students, but everyone is welcome!

Fecha: Miércoles, 17 de octubre 2012
Hora: 4 pm Hora del Este (1 pm Hora del Pacífico)
Póster (PDF, 768KB)

¿Se ha preguntado qué se siente al construir y probar los instrumentos que operan en el espacio? ¡Escúchelo directamente de los "héroes" detrás de las escenas de una misión de la NASA!

Por favor únase a ingenieros del Goddard Space Flight Center mientras discuten su trabajo en el Aquarius / SAC-D. El satélite - producto de una colaboración entre la NASA y la CONAE, la agencia espacial de Argentina - fue lanzado el 10-jun–11 desde la costa de California después de haber sido construido y probado en los EE.UU., Argentina y Brasil. Su objetivo científico principal es recoger datos sobre la salinidad de los océanos, revelando información clave para la circulación oceánica, el ciclo del agua y el clima.

En este seminario web en español se escuchará de tres ingenieros experimentados - Amri Hernández-Pellerano (Ingeniera Electricista en Sistemas de Potencia), Shannon Rodríguez (Ingeniera Electricista en Sistemas de Radio) y Fernando Pellerano (Ingeniero en Sistemas de Instrumentos).

---

Are "cookbook" labs the best way to engage high school students in learning fundamental earth science concepts? Can real data be used by high school questions to investigate research questions and put together the answers? A move towards inquiry-based science education has shown that the latter is possible. In this webinar, Ted Taylor of Bangor High School gives us a peek inside his classroom to show us how it can be done.

The concepts of salinity, density, circulation, temperature and other fundamental physical processes make up the core of any marine science course. Teaching these topics in an undergraduate classroom can be challenging to any educator. This webinar focuses on how our ability to construct knowledge about the ocean has evolved over time as the ocean becomes increasingly accessible, primarily through the acquisition of satellite data. Dr. Susan Lozier of Duke University gives us a look into her methods for getting students to ask questions and answer them with real ocean data.

---

Now that measurements of global salinity are being regularly collected by Aquarius, what type of phenomena are being observed with the data?

The Aquarius/SAC-D satellite has begun collecting global salinity data - but it is not without challenges. PI Gary Lagerloef and Dr. David Le Vine, Aquarius Deputy Principal Investigator, discuss what it takes to design, develop and test this satellite's capabilities before and after launch, and how this leads to gathering accurate global data.

Two weeks before the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite launch, Principal Investigator (PI) Gary Lagerloef and Project Scientist Yi Chao share their stories about the technological development of the mission and key scientific connections between salinity, the water cycle, ocean circulation and climate.