Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind
Spatially detailed satellite data of mean color, sea ice concentration, surface temperature, clouds, and wind have been analyzed to quantify and study the large scale regional and temporal variability of phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic and peripheral seas from 1998 to 2002. In the Arctic basin, p...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20040082159 2023-05-15T14:29:19+02:00 Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind Comiso, Josefino C. Cota, Glenn F. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available [2004] application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20040082159 unknown Document ID: 20040082159 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20040082159 No Copyright CASI Meteorology and Climatology 2004 ftnasantrs 2018-06-09T23:02:11Z Spatially detailed satellite data of mean color, sea ice concentration, surface temperature, clouds, and wind have been analyzed to quantify and study the large scale regional and temporal variability of phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic and peripheral seas from 1998 to 2002. In the Arctic basin, phytoplankton chlorophyll displays a large symmetry with the Eastern Arctic having about fivefold higher concentrations than those of the Western Arctic. Large monthly and yearly variability is also observed in the peripheral seas with the largest blooms occurring in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Barents Sea during spring. There is large interannual and seasonal variability in biomass with average chlorophyll concentrations in 2002 and 2001 being higher than earlier years in spring and summer. The seasonality in the latitudinal distribution of blooms is also very different such that the North Atlantic is usually most expansive in spring while the North Pacific is more extensive in autumn. Environmental factors that influence phytoplankton growth were examined, and results show relatively high negative correlation with sea ice retreat and strong positive correlation with temperature in early spring. Plankton growth, as indicated by biomass accumulation, in the Arctic and subarctic increases up to a threshold surface temperature of about 276-277 degree K (3-4 degree C) beyond which the concentrations start to decrease suggesting an optimal temperature or nutrient depletion. The correlation with clouds is significant in some areas but negligible in other areas, while the correlations with wind speed and its components are generally weak. The effects of clouds and winds are less predictable with weekly climatologies because of unknown effects of averaging variable and intermittent physical forcing (e.g. over storm event scales with mixing and upwelling of nutrients) and the time scales of acclimation by the phytoplankton. Other/Unknown Material Arctic Basin Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea North Atlantic Phytoplankton Sea ice Subarctic NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea Okhotsk Pacific |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
op_collection_id |
ftnasantrs |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology and Climatology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Climatology Comiso, Josefino C. Cota, Glenn F. Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology |
description |
Spatially detailed satellite data of mean color, sea ice concentration, surface temperature, clouds, and wind have been analyzed to quantify and study the large scale regional and temporal variability of phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic and peripheral seas from 1998 to 2002. In the Arctic basin, phytoplankton chlorophyll displays a large symmetry with the Eastern Arctic having about fivefold higher concentrations than those of the Western Arctic. Large monthly and yearly variability is also observed in the peripheral seas with the largest blooms occurring in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Barents Sea during spring. There is large interannual and seasonal variability in biomass with average chlorophyll concentrations in 2002 and 2001 being higher than earlier years in spring and summer. The seasonality in the latitudinal distribution of blooms is also very different such that the North Atlantic is usually most expansive in spring while the North Pacific is more extensive in autumn. Environmental factors that influence phytoplankton growth were examined, and results show relatively high negative correlation with sea ice retreat and strong positive correlation with temperature in early spring. Plankton growth, as indicated by biomass accumulation, in the Arctic and subarctic increases up to a threshold surface temperature of about 276-277 degree K (3-4 degree C) beyond which the concentrations start to decrease suggesting an optimal temperature or nutrient depletion. The correlation with clouds is significant in some areas but negligible in other areas, while the correlations with wind speed and its components are generally weak. The effects of clouds and winds are less predictable with weekly climatologies because of unknown effects of averaging variable and intermittent physical forcing (e.g. over storm event scales with mixing and upwelling of nutrients) and the time scales of acclimation by the phytoplankton. |
author |
Comiso, Josefino C. Cota, Glenn F. |
author_facet |
Comiso, Josefino C. Cota, Glenn F. |
author_sort |
Comiso, Josefino C. |
title |
Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
title_short |
Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
title_full |
Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
title_fullStr |
Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
title_full_unstemmed |
Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind |
title_sort |
large scale variability of phytoplankton blooms in the arctic and peripheral seas: relationships with sea ice, temperature, clouds, and wind |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20040082159 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea Okhotsk Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea Okhotsk Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Basin Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea North Atlantic Phytoplankton Sea ice Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Basin Arctic Barents Sea Bering Sea North Atlantic Phytoplankton Sea ice Subarctic |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20040082159 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20040082159 |
op_rights |
No Copyright |
_version_ |
1766303359560581120 |