Project Funding: 2011 - 2014

NRA: 2010 NASA: NPP Science Team for Climate Data Records   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
This proposal is to assess NPP and NPOESS (which has now become the Joint Polar Satellite System, JPSS) for derivation of particulate inorganic carbon (PIC; otherwise known as calcium carbonate, CaCO3). The goal is to verify the NPP/NPOESS PIC product as an environmental data record (EDR) and, ultimately, a climate data record (CDR). The PIC algorithm was originally omitted from the product list for NPP/NPOESS. This is despite the fact that: a) PIC represents a major part of the global carbon cycle, b) the merged two-band/three-band PIC algorithm is a standard carbon product for SeaWiFS and MODIS missions, and c)VIIRS (Visible Infra-Red Imaging Radiometer Suite) has all the bands necessary to implement the algorithm. The major challenge to the maintenance of the PIC algorithm in the NPP/NPOESS era is the availability of only a small sea-truth data set for validation purposes. The work proposed here will provide PIC algorithm maintenance (optical measurements made on two major cruises from vastly under-sampled regions of the North and South Atlantic), specifically in support of NPP/NPOESS. We will: 1) examine the accuracy of the PIC algorithm as implemented with data from VIIRS, 2) examine ways to improve the algorithm in order to maintain the PIC environmental system data records (ESDRs) as begun by EOS, and 3) undertake collection/analysis of two other variables, chlorophyll concentration and particulate organic carbon (POC), in support of their evaluation as EDRS and CDRS. NASA will incur no ship time expenses for any of the algorithm maintenance work; both cruises are part of the Atlantic Meridional Survey, supported by the National Environmental Research Council of the U.K. These cruises represent the longest (in space and time) ocean time series on the globe, traversing between the UK and Punta Arenas, Chile. For both cruises, we will make a combination of underway ship measurements for inherent optical properties (IOPs) and apparent optical properties (AOPs), which, when combined with discrete particle analyses, will provide new validation data for an NPP/NPOESS PIC product and additional data for the validation of the chlorophyll data product. Ancillary POC measurements will also allow us to evaluate the feasibility of a new VIIRS POC product. We will do statistical analyses in order to extrapolate satellite PIC measurements from the top optical depth to the entire euphotic zone (or deeper), depths effectively invisible to the ocean color satellites but of great biogeochemical relevance, nonetheless. Equipment funds are requested for: a) a fluorometer for colored dissolved organic matter to our sampling system, so that we can better evaluate the impact of colored dissolved organic carbon on the PIC and chlorophyll algorithm performance and b) several key pieces of hardware to allow us to construct a second system for underway analysis of AOPs and IOPs (required because of tight cruise schedules in 2012). This proposal addresses 2 of the 6 Earth science focus areas: 1) Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems plus 2) Climate Variability and Change. It supports 3 objectives identified for NASA Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems research: (1) document and understand how the global carbon cycle, terrestrial and marine ecosystems are changing, (2) quantify global productivity, biomass and carbon fluxes; and (3) provide useful projections of future changes in global carbon cycling and marine ecosystems for use in ecological forecasting, and as inputs for improved climate change predictions. This work will be critical to seamlessly transition products such as PIC, chlorophyll and POC from the SeaWiFS and MODIS missions to the NPP/NPOESS era. Ultimately, it will allow better evaluation of the future global carbon cycle as it is impacted by climate change.

Publications:

Balch, W. M., Bates, N. R., Lam, P. J., Twining, B. S., Rosengard, S. Z., Bowler, B. C., Drapeau, D. T., Garley, R., Lubelczyk, L. C., Mitchell, C., Rauschenberg, S. 2016. Factors regulating the Great Calcite Belt in the Southern Ocean and its biogeochemical significance. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 30(8), 1124-1144. DOI: 10.1002/2016GB005414 

Balch, W. M., Bowler, B. C., Drapeau, D. T., Lubelczyk, L. C., Lyczkowski, E. 2018. Vertical Distributions of Coccolithophores, PIC, POC, Biogenic Silica, and Chlorophyll a Throughout the Global Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 32(1), 2-17. DOI: 10.1002/2016GB005614

Cao, X., Aiken, G. R., Butler, K. D., Huntington, T. G., Balch, W. M., Mao, J., Schmidt-Rohr, K. 2018. Evidence for major input of riverine organic matter into the ocean. Organic Geochemistry. 116, 62-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.11.001

Maranon, E., Balch, W. M., Cermeno, P., Gonzalez, N., Sobrino, C., Fernandez, A., Huete-Ortega, M., Lopez-Sandoval, D. C., Delgado, M., Estrada, M., Alvarez, M., Fernandez-Guallart, E., Pelejero, C. 2016. Coccolithophore calcification is independent of carbonate chemistry in the tropical ocean. Limnology and Oceanography. 61(4), 1345-1357. DOI: 10.1002/lno.10295

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Ocean Biology & Biogeochemistry (OBB) Project Profile