Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth
We validated simulations of the Earth system model (ESM) EC-Earth-NEMO of present-day temperature, salinity, nutrient, and chlorophyll a profiles with in situ observations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (29−63º N). Simulations with standard parametrization (run 1) and improved parametrization of ve...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:56a14c18d6e0454289d370655638bfaf 2023-05-15T15:08:04+02:00 Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth Nomikos Skyllas Richard Bintanja Anita G. J. Buma Corina P. D. Brussaard Matthias Gröger Jenny Hieronymus Willem H. van de Poll 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9100450 https://doaj.org/article/56a14c18d6e0454289d370655638bfaf EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/9/10/450 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences9100450 https://doaj.org/article/56a14c18d6e0454289d370655638bfaf Geosciences, Vol 9, Iss 10, p 450 (2019) north atlantic earth system models ec-earth nemo pisces carbon cycle phytoplankton stratiphyt model validation stratification nutrients chlorophyll a mixed layer depth Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9100450 2022-12-31T04:40:40Z We validated simulations of the Earth system model (ESM) EC-Earth-NEMO of present-day temperature, salinity, nutrient, and chlorophyll a profiles with in situ observations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (29−63º N). Simulations with standard parametrization (run 1) and improved parametrization of vertical mixing (run 2) were compared. Run 1 showed shallower mixed layer depths (MLDs) in spring as compared to observations owing to lower salinities in the upper 200 m of the subpolar North Atlantic (>55º N). This coincided with a mismatch with observed timing and magnitude of the phytoplankton spring bloom. In contrast, the model performed well south of 55º N. Run 2 showed improved springtime MLD, phytoplankton dynamics, and nutrient distributions in the subpolar North Atlantic. Our study underlines the sensitivity of subpolar North Atlantic phytoplankton blooms to surface freshening, suggesting that future fresh-water inflow from Arctic and Greenland Ice sheet melting could significantly affect phytoplankton productivity. These findings contribute to the generic validation of the EC-Earth ESM and underline the need for rigorous validation of physics-biology links, in particular the sub polar North Atlantic where complex seasonal stratification/vertical mixing processes govern upper ocean phytoplankton productivity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic Phytoplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Geosciences 9 10 450 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
north atlantic earth system models ec-earth nemo pisces carbon cycle phytoplankton stratiphyt model validation stratification nutrients chlorophyll a mixed layer depth Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
north atlantic earth system models ec-earth nemo pisces carbon cycle phytoplankton stratiphyt model validation stratification nutrients chlorophyll a mixed layer depth Geology QE1-996.5 Nomikos Skyllas Richard Bintanja Anita G. J. Buma Corina P. D. Brussaard Matthias Gröger Jenny Hieronymus Willem H. van de Poll Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
topic_facet |
north atlantic earth system models ec-earth nemo pisces carbon cycle phytoplankton stratiphyt model validation stratification nutrients chlorophyll a mixed layer depth Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
We validated simulations of the Earth system model (ESM) EC-Earth-NEMO of present-day temperature, salinity, nutrient, and chlorophyll a profiles with in situ observations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (29−63º N). Simulations with standard parametrization (run 1) and improved parametrization of vertical mixing (run 2) were compared. Run 1 showed shallower mixed layer depths (MLDs) in spring as compared to observations owing to lower salinities in the upper 200 m of the subpolar North Atlantic (>55º N). This coincided with a mismatch with observed timing and magnitude of the phytoplankton spring bloom. In contrast, the model performed well south of 55º N. Run 2 showed improved springtime MLD, phytoplankton dynamics, and nutrient distributions in the subpolar North Atlantic. Our study underlines the sensitivity of subpolar North Atlantic phytoplankton blooms to surface freshening, suggesting that future fresh-water inflow from Arctic and Greenland Ice sheet melting could significantly affect phytoplankton productivity. These findings contribute to the generic validation of the EC-Earth ESM and underline the need for rigorous validation of physics-biology links, in particular the sub polar North Atlantic where complex seasonal stratification/vertical mixing processes govern upper ocean phytoplankton productivity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nomikos Skyllas Richard Bintanja Anita G. J. Buma Corina P. D. Brussaard Matthias Gröger Jenny Hieronymus Willem H. van de Poll |
author_facet |
Nomikos Skyllas Richard Bintanja Anita G. J. Buma Corina P. D. Brussaard Matthias Gröger Jenny Hieronymus Willem H. van de Poll |
author_sort |
Nomikos Skyllas |
title |
Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
title_short |
Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
title_full |
Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
title_fullStr |
Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
title_full_unstemmed |
Validation of Stratification-Driven Phytoplankton Biomass and Nutrient Concentrations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean as Simulated by EC-Earth |
title_sort |
validation of stratification-driven phytoplankton biomass and nutrient concentrations in the northeast atlantic ocean as simulated by ec-earth |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9100450 https://doaj.org/article/56a14c18d6e0454289d370655638bfaf |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic Phytoplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic Phytoplankton |
op_source |
Geosciences, Vol 9, Iss 10, p 450 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/9/10/450 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences9100450 https://doaj.org/article/56a14c18d6e0454289d370655638bfaf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9100450 |
container_title |
Geosciences |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
450 |
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1766339494022217728 |