Doney, Scott: University of Virginia (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2014 - 2016
NRA: 2013 NASA: Terra and Aqua: Algorithms--Existing Data Products
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
Phytoplankton community structure plays a key role modulating marine food webs and biogeochemistry, and there is growing evidence from localized in-situ data that phytoplankton community structure varies on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales in response to physical forcing and biological interactions. New satellite algorithms applied to MODIS-Aqua sensor data provide the unique capability to map synoptic spatial distributions of plankton size structure and/or taxonomic groups over ocean basins. We propose to conduct a multi-mission, inter-disciplinary data analysis that integrates historical MODIS-Aqua and SeaWiFS data on plankton community structure with satellite remote sensing information on ocean physical circulation from sea surface height (TOPEX, JASON, and ERS altimeters). Our overarching goal is to better characterize the biophysical dynamics driving variability in plankton community structure on the event scale (e.g., mesoscale eddies). We will take advantage of recently developed quasi-Lagrangian eddy tracking tools and satellite data products to characterize the temporal evolution of biology over the lifetime of individual ocean mesoscale eddies. Mechanistic inferences and biophysical relationships derived from the multivariate statistical analysis of the satellite data will be tested against output from a global, eddy-resolving ocean marine ecosystem model, the Community Earth System Model (CESM), that explicitly resolves aspects of phytoplankton community structure. We will explicitly account for reported errors in both remote sensing and model data products. This study addresses directly the Science of Aqua and Terra call for proposals including aspects of the announcement sub-element Science Data Analysis: Multiplatform and Sensor Data Fusion, "multi-mission and multi-sensor innovative research that can be used to quantify change, characterize processes, and examine function within the Earth System over time". Additionally, the study targets the NASA Earth Science overarching programmatic goal of expanding its assessment of biological oceanography and biogeochemistry beyond traditional ocean color data uses (i.e., chlorophyll) into the realm of intrinsic ecosystem structures used to understand the ocean's role in moderating the global climate and Earth system.
Publications:
Archibald, K. M., Siegel, D. A., Doney, S. C. 2019. Modeling the Impact of Zooplankton Diel Vertical Migration on the Carbon Export Flux of the Biological Pump. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 33(2), 181-199. DOI: 10.1029/2018GB005983
Glover, D. M., Doney, S. C., Oestreich, W. K., Tullo, A. W. 2018. Geostatistical Analysis of Mesoscale Spatial Variability and Error in SeaWiFS and MODIS/Aqua Global Ocean Color Data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 123(1), 22-39. DOI: 10.1002/2017JC013023
Kavanaugh, M. T., Church, M. J., Davis, C. O., Karl, D. M., Letelier, R. M., Doney, S. C. 2018. ALOHA From the Edge: Reconciling Three Decades of in Situ Eulerian Observations and Geographic Variability in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Frontiers in Marine Science. 5. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00130
Mackey, K. R. M., Kavanaugh, M. T., Wang, F., Chen, Y., Liu, F., Glover, D. M., Chien, C., Paytan, A. 2017. Atmospheric and Fluvial Nutrients Fuel Algal Blooms in the East China Sea. Frontiers in Marine Science. 4. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00002
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
