Reconstruction of ocean temperature and salinity profiles in the Northern South China Sea using satellite observations

Based on historical temperature and salinity (T-S) profiles, the correlation between the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly, sea surface dynamic height (SSH) anomaly, and temperature profile anomaly is constructed by regression analysis. A three-dimensional temperature field is reconstructed in the northern South China Sea by satellite SST and SSH, with daily temporal and 0.25 degrees x0.25 degrees spatial resolutions. The three-dimensional salinity field is also reconstructed based on the correlation between salinity and temperature. Compared with the observational T-S profiles, the reconstructed T-S field reflects the characteristics and structure and accurately describes the mesoscale variability of the ocean temperature field. The new expanded T-S field can be used as the initial field in numerical models and be assimilated into numerical reanalysis and prediction systems, improving their output.