Estimating the global oceanic net freshwater flux from Argo and comparing it with satellite-based freshwater flux products

Following the idea that analysis of in situ information in the salt budget could be used as a surrogate for global "ocean rain gauge," the annual mean oceanic net freshwater flux (E-P) was estimated from the Argo profiles and the wind stress data on a global scale. The comparison between the independent E-P estimation from Argo and the E-P product sets, including the combination of precipitation from TRMM, GPCP, CMAP and evaporation from OAFlux, GSSTF3 and IFREMER and E-P set from NEWS formed from satellite, generally show similar spatial patterns, particularly on the large scale. However, there are differences among the different satellite-based E-P estimates and between satellite estimates and independent in situ estimates. Based on the pattern correlation and the RMSD, the evaporation and precipitation from OAFlux and TRMM agrees best with the E-P estimated from the independent Argo-based estimates.