Ocean Salinity Satellite

Changes in sea water salinity are closely related to the ocean environment and global climate change. Both the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite launched by ESA in November 2009 and the Aquarius satellite launched by NASA in 2011 were designed to measure sea surface salinity. This chapter discusses China’s scientific satellites (operational and proposed) used to monitor sea surface salinity in the context of global change.