Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC07 Spatial and Temporal Connections

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Sackmann, B, S, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, bssackma@u.washington.edu

Perry, M, J, Ira C. Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Walpole, USA, perrymj@maine.edu

Logsdon, M, G, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, mlog@u.washington.edu

USING SEAWIFS TO EVALUATE INTER-ANNUAL VARIABILITY IN PHYTOPLANKTON BIOMASS DISTRIBUTION OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST.

Inter-annual variability in phytoplankton biomass distribution was examined for three years (1998-2000) for waters overlying the continental shelf and slope of Washington State. Images of pigment concentration were processed from SeaWiFS data at 1-km resolution for spring, summer and early autumn. Revised atmospheric correction and chlorophyll a algorithms (OC4), implemented as part of SeaWiFS third dataset reprocessing, eliminated most of the previous regions of algorithm failure. Patterns of phytoplankton pigment distribution were analyzed as a function of space and time through a series of ISODATA classifications resulting in a final classified image illustrating the variability in plankton biomass distribution over the three year time series. Upwelling events were independently characterized using the Bakun upwelling index. Areal estimates of the standing stock of phytoplankton carbon were estimated based on historical records of the vertical distribution of phytoplankton biomass. These observations will be useful in monitoring phytoplankton response to long-term climactic changes, as well as assessing the magnitude of biomass potentially available to higher trophic levels.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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