This is a grant award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the University of Washington (UW) for a project to improve the Rain Impact Model (RIM) used to estimate the impact of near-surface salinity stratification due to rainfall on satellite-based ocean salinity measurements.
The $421,594.32 grant is for a project that will modify the existing RIM to incorporate the effects of wind speed on the evolution of fresh water lenses created by rainfall. This will be done by developing a parameterization for the vertical diffusivity in terms of wind speed (PRIM) and by implementing the RIM calculations in the Generalized Ocean Circulation Model (GRIM), a more sophisticated one-dimensional turbulence closure model. The models will be tested and validated using data from the recently concluded SPURS2 field experiment, and will then be used to provide regular estimates of near-surface salinity stratification for the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) salinity product as well as the entire Aquarius satellite dataset.
There is no set-aside designation for this award, and the University of Washington is the prime recipient. The project period runs from April 2017 through January 2024.