Salinity & Temperature Data assimilation

15 diapositivas.-- SMOS-BEC: Barcelona Expert Centre on Radiometric Calibration and Ocean Salinity.Peer reviewe

Adapting the existing coastal patí a vela fleet for scientic purposes

This paper presents the first results of the Barcelona Institute of Culture’s grant for research and innovation projects under the 2019 Barcelona Science Plan entitled “Development of a citizen monitoring program for the Barcelona waters: The Scientific Pat´i a Vela”. The main objective of this project is to develop a small Pat´i a Vela (PV) fleet that can routinely sample the Barcelona coastal waters and report their observations to an open-access interactive web. The Pat´i a Vela boat was designed in 1942 by the Mong´e brothers. It is a lightweight one- person catamaran with a single Marconi sail and no boom. The main objective of this contribution is to adapt the Pat´i a Vela model attaching an on-board platform with scientific instruments (sensors and devices) and determine the new stability characteristics and seakeeping performance. This will allow an adequate sampling of the Barcelona coast waters and the systematic measurements of the essential physical and biogeochemical variables detecting variations along the coast, hence identifying potential sources of contamination. It will also provide the necessary knowledge of natural and anthropogenic seasonality.Postprint (published version

Development of a citizen monitoring program for the Barcelona coastal waters: the Scientific Patí Vela

The first results of the PATI CIENTIFIC project are presented. This is a collaborative project funded by a Barcelona Institute of Culture’s grant for research and innovation under the 2019 Barcelona Science Plan. The main objective of this project is to develop a monitoring program for the coastal waters of Barcelona through a small -sailboat fleet of the traditional and sustainable Patí de Vela (sailing skate). This pleasure boat is to become a scientific sailing skate. This fleet will acquire the essential oceanographic variables along the Catalan coast, which will be incorporated and accessible in a web platform. We present the initial adaptations done to the Patí de Vela to have an onboard platform holding the scientific instruments (sensors and devices) for sampling the Barcelona coastal waters. These adaptations allow the systematic measurements of the essential physical and biogeochemical variables. These data, which will allow detecting variations along the coast, hence identifying potential sources of contamination and also providing the necessary knowledge of natural and anthropogenic seasonality, and will be freely available on a web platform. The PATI CIENTIFIC project will increase our knowledge of the coastal waters of the Barcelona coast, encouraging participation in sea monitoring activities and increasing social awareness on the need to love and protect our oceans.Postprint (published version

Human organotypic airway and lung organoid cells of bronchiolar and alveolar differentiation are permissive to infection by influenza and SARS-CoV-2 respiratory virus

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the initiation of unprecedented research efforts to understand the pathogenesis mediated by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More knowledge is needed regarding the cell type-specific cytopathology and its impact on cellular tropism. Furthermore, the impact of novel SARS-CoV-2 mutations on cellular tropism, alternative routes of entry, the impact of co-infections, and virus replication kinetics along the respiratory tract remains to be explored in improved models. Most applied virology models are not well suited to address the remaining questions, as they do not recapitulate the histoarchitecture and cellular composition of human respiratory tissues. The overall aim of this work was to establish from single biopsy specimens, a human adult stem cell-derived organoid model representing the upper respiratory airways and lungs and explore the applicability of this model to study respiratory virus infection. First, we characterized the organoid model with respect to growth pattern and histoarchitecture, cellular composition, and functional characteristics. Next, in situ expression of viral entry receptors, including influenza virus-relevant sialic acids and SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2, were confirmed in organoids of bronchiolar and alveolar differentiation. We further showed successful infection by pseudotype influenza A H7N1 and H5N1 virus, and the ability of the model to support viral replication of influenza A H7N1 virus. Finally, successful infection and replication of a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 were confirmed in the organoids by TCID50 assay and immunostaining to detect intracellular SARS-CoV-2 specific nucleocapsid and dsRNA. The prominent syncytia formation in organoid tissues following SARS-CoV-2 infection mimics the findings from infected human tissues in situ. We conclude that the human organotypic model described here may be particularly useful for virology studies to evaluate regional differences in the host response to infection. The model contains the various cell types along the respiratory tract, expresses respiratory virus entry factors, and supports successful infection and replication of influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2. Thus, the model may serve as a relevant and reliable tool in virology and aid in pandemic preparedness, and efficient evaluation of antiviral strategies.publishedVersio

Mare salis intellegere. Comprendre la sal dels oceans

3 pages, 2 figures[EN] In 1987, Konstantin Fedorov, a prominent Soviet oceanographer of the time, dedicated one of his popular science talks to the salinity of the ocean and called it “The Cinderella of Dynamic Oceanology”. Fedorov said that “The fate of salinity as a physical parameter is closely related to the dynamics of ocean waters and is very similar to the fate of poor Cinderella in Charles Perrault’s fairy tale. And, like the fate of poor Cinderella, salinity has long cried out for justice”. […][ES] En 1987, el Prof. Fedorov, destacado oceanógrafo soviético de la época, dedicó una de sus charlas divulgativas a la salinidad del océano y la llamó “La Cenicienta de la oceanología dinámica”. Fedorov decía que “El destino de la salinidad como parámetro físico está estrechamente relacionado con la dinámica de las aguas del océano y es muy similar al destino de la pobre Cenicienta del cuento de hadas de Charles Perrault. Y, como el destino de la pobre Cenicienta, hace tiempo que la salinidad clama justicia”. […][CAT] El 1987, el Prof. Fedorov, destacat oceanògraf soviètic de l’època, va dedicar una de les seves xerrades divulgatives a la salinitat de l’oceà i la va anomenar “La Ventafocs de l’oceanologia dinàmica”. Fedorov deia que “El destí de la salinitat com a paràmetre físic està estretament relacionat amb la dinàmica de les aigües de l’oceà i és molt similar al destí de la pobra Ventafocs del conte de fades de Charles Perrault. I, com la pobra Ventafocs, fa temps que la salinitat clama justícia”. […]Peer reviewe

Barcelona Coastal Monitoring with the “Patí a Vela”, a Traditional Sailboat Turned into an Oceanographic Platform

Special issue Technological Oceanography.-- 16 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables.-- Data supporting reported results can be found at https://paticientific.org/index.php/dades/ (accessed on 13 April 2022) and through https://zenodo.org/search (accessed on 13 April 2022) by searching “pati cientific”.Shelf waters near large cities, such as Barcelona, are affected not only by meteorological episodes but also by anthropogenic influence. Scientists usually use data from on-site coastal platforms to analyze and understand these complex water ecosystems because remote sensing satellites have low spatiotemporal resolution and do not provide reliable data so close to the coast. However, platforms with conventional oceanographic instrumentation are expensive to install and maintain. This study presents the scientific adaptation and initial measurements from a “patí a vela”, which is a very popular unipersonal catamaran in Barcelona. This versatile sailing vessel has been adapted to contain several low-cost sensors and instruments to measure water properties. Here, we describe the setup of a multi-parameter prototype, and then focus on results obtained using a low-cost temperature profiler. First, the temperature data are compared and validated with another conventional oceanographic instrument used in monthly oceanographic cruises. Then, field measurements between July and November 2021 are used to explore the relationship between air and water temperature in the Barcelona coastal area, showing the seasonal evolution of the temperature profile. We conclude that citizen sampling from fully sustainable sailing boats may turn into an effective strategy to monitor the urban coastal watersThis work has been carried out within the framework of the 2019 Barcelona Pla de Ciència, with funding from the Barcelona City Council through the project “Development of a citizen monitoring program for the Barcelona coastal waters: the Scientific Patí Vela” (PATI CIENTIFIC; references 19SO1645-006, 19SO1649-006, 19SO1651-006). [...] The ICM authors also recognize the institutional support of the Spanish Government through the Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewe

Improved BEC SMOS Arctic Sea Surface Salinity product v3.1

17 pages, 13 figures, 1 table.-- Data availability: The product (Martínez et al., 2019) is freely distributed on the BEC (Barcelona Expert Center) web page (http://bec.icm.csic.es/, last access: 25 January 2022) with the DOI number https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/12620 (Martínez et al., 2019) and on the Digital CSIC server: https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/219679 (last access: 25 January 2022). Data can be downloaded from the FTP service: http://bec.icm.csic.es/bec-ftp-service/ (last access: 25 January 2022). The maps are distributed in the standard grid EASE-Grid 2.0, which has a spatial resolution of 25 km. In addition to the product validated in this work (L3 with temporal resolution of 9 d), L3 products having a temporal resolution of 3 and 18 d and the L2 product are available. These Arctic SSS products cover the period from 2011 to 2019.-- This work represents a contribution to the CSIC Thematic Interdisciplinary Platform PTI Teledetect and PolarCSIC. Argo data were collected and made freely available by the International Argo program and the national programs that contribute to it (https://argo.ucsd.edu, https://www.ocean-ops.org, last access: 25 January 2022). The Argo program is part of the Global Ocean Observing SystemMeasuring salinity from space is challenging since the sensitivity of the brightness temperature (TB) to sea surface salinity (SSS) is low (about 0.5 K psu−1), while the SSS range in the open ocean is narrow (about 5 psu, if river discharge areas are not considered). This translates into a high accuracy requirement of the radiometer (about 2–3 K). Moreover, the sensitivity of the TB to SSS at cold waters is even lower (0.3 K psu−1), making the retrieval of the SSS in the cold waters even more challenging. Due to this limitation, the ESA launched a specific initiative in 2019, the Arctic+Salinity project (AO/1-9158/18/I-BG), to produce an enhanced Arctic SSS product with better quality and resolution than the available products. This paper presents the methodologies used to produce the new enhanced Arctic SMOS SSS product (Martínez et al., 2019) . The product consists of 9 d averaged maps in an EASE 2.0 grid of 25 km. The product is freely distributed from the Barcelona Expert Center (BEC, http://bec.icm.csic.es/, last access: 25 January 2022) with the DOI number https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/12620 (Martínez et al., 2019). The major change in this new product is its improvement of the effective spatial resolution that permits better monitoring of the mesoscale structures (larger than 50 km), which benefits the river discharge monitoringThis work has been carried out as part of the ESA Arctic+Salinity project (AO/1-9158/18/I-BG), which permitted the production of the database, and the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain, through the National R&D Plan under L-BAND project ESP2017-89463-C3-1-R. [...] With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)Peer reviewe

First SMOS Sea Surface Salinity dedicated products over the Baltic Sea

26 pages, 24 figures, 4 tables.-- Data availability: Access to the data is provided by the Barcelona Expert Center, through its FTP service. The DOI of the L3 product is https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13859 (González-Gambau et al., 2021a). The DOI of the L4 product is https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13860 (González-Gambau et al., 2021b). Seasonal averaged L4 SSS products are also available in the HELCOM catalogue (https://metadata.helcom.fi/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9d979033-1136-4dd1-a09b-7ee9e512ad14, BEC team, 2021b), and they can be visualized in the HELCOM Map and Data service (https://maps.helcom.fi/website/mapservice/?datasetID=9d979033-1136-4dd1-a09b-7ee9e512ad14, last access: 9 November 2021).-- This work is a contribution to the CSIC Thematic Interdisciplinary Platform TeledetectThis paper presents the first Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) dedicated products over the Baltic Sea. The SSS retrieval from L-band brightness temperature (TB) measurements over this basin is really challenging due to important technical issues, such as the land–sea and ice–sea contamination, the high contamination by radio-frequency interference (RFI) sources, the low sensitivity of L-band TB at SSS changes in cold waters, and the poor characterization of dielectric constant models for the low SSS range in the basin. For these reasons, exploratory research in the algorithms used from the level 0 up to level 4 has been required to develop these dedicated products. This work has been performed in the framework of the European Space Agency regional initiative Baltic+ Salinity Dynamics. Two Baltic+ SSS products have been generated for the period 2011–2019 and are freely distributed: the Level 3 (L3) product (daily generated 9 d maps in a 0.25∘ grid; https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13859, González-Gambau et al., 2021a) and the Level 4 (L4) product (daily maps in a 0.05∘ grid; https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13860, González-Gambau et al., 2021b)​​​​​​​, which are computed by applying multifractal fusion to L3 SSS with SST maps. The accuracy of L3 SSS products is typically around 0.7–0.8 psu. The L4 product has an improved spatiotemporal resolution with respect to the L3 and the accuracy is typically around 0.4 psu. Regions with the highest errors and limited coverage are located in Arkona and Bornholm basins and Gulfs of Finland and Riga. The impact assessment of Baltic+ SSS products has shown that they can help in the understanding of salinity dynamics in the basin. They complement the temporally and spatially very sparse in situ measurements, covering data gaps in the region, and they can also be useful for the validation of numerical models, particularly in areas where in situ data are very sparseThis work has been carried out as part of the Baltic+ Salinity Dynamics project (4000126102/18/I-BG), funded by the European Space Agency. It has been also supported in part by the Spanish R&D project INTERACT (PID2020-114623RB-C31), which is funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. We also received funding from the Spanish government through the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewe

Variability, Geophysical Consistency, and Calibration Errors of Sea Surface Salinity Remote Sensing Data

Memoria de tesis doctoral presentada por Nina Hoareau para obtener el título de Doctora en Ciencias del Mar por la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), realizada bajo la dirección del Dr. Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy y del Dr. Marcos Portabella del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 181 pagesIn January 1969, Jack F. Paris published a comprehensive review of all the knowledge about microwave physics, engineering and its applications to meteorology and oceanography. In this 241 pages-long review, he pointed out that radiometers operating between 1.0 GHz and 5.4 GHz could be used to survey remotely both temperature and salinit along coastal and river regions in the world. [...]Peer Reviewe