Research Areas

PHYSICOCHEMICAL VARIABLES

The National Observation Service

Scientific leads: Gaël Alory and Dénis Devires

The PERSEVERANCE contributes to the SSS (Sea Surface Salinity) National Observation Service (SNO), which ensures global monitoring of ocean surface salinity via automatic sensors installed on commercial vessels, research ships, and sailing boats.

Managed by LEGOS (OMP, Toulouse), the SSS SNO is technically supported by the IRD (Imago, Brest, and Nouméa). This network, certified in 2003, provides essential data for the study of climate, ocean circulation, and ocean-atmosphere exchanges. Salinity, along with temperature, directly influences seawater density and global ocean dynamics.

Spatial distribution of real-time sea surface salinity data for different periods and various vessels of opportunity and research (taken from https://sss.se-doo.fr/).

The measurements collected on board are transmitted every 24 hours to LEGOS via satellite, then processed and disseminated via the CDS-Coriolis and ODATIS portals after quality control. Long-term delayed-mode series (seawater sampling) are also recovered during stopovers, corrected for biases related to potential sensor drift, and then integrated into ocean-scale reference products. Discrete seawater samplings are performed every 2 days to evaluate the drift of the SBE45 salinity sensor. The bottles are identified and stored at room temperature in the Science room of the PERSEVERANCE, then sent for laboratory analysis on land.

The SSS SNO expressed its interest in collaborating with the PERSEVERANCE team as early as June 2023. This cooperation is based on close coordination, particularly for the regular retrieval of seawater samples and the annual calibration of onboard sensors. Within this framework, Marion Fourquez participated in the SSS SNO annual meetings in 2024 and 2025 to present the scientific activities of the PERSEVERANCE and to discuss technical and logistical aspects of this collaboration with partners. A dedicated page for the vessel is also being created on the SNO website to highlight its contribution to the network.

Hyperlinks: SNO websites – Database – Data visualization