Aquarius

The science goals of the Aquarius mission (launched June 10, 2011) are to observe and model the processes that relate salinity variations to climatic changes in the global cycling of water and to understand how these variations influence the general ocean circulation. By measuring salinity globally and synoptically every month for 3 years, Aquarius will provide an unprecedented new view of the ocean's role in climate. The Aquarius investigation will address these processes on the seasonal cycle as a basis for understanding interannual climate variations.