Comparison of SeaWiFS and MODIS Ocean Color Mesoscale Variability

David M. Glover, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, dglover@whoi.edu (Presenter)
Scott Doney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, sdoney@whoi.edu
Alisdair W Tullo, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, atullo@whoi.edu

Mesoscale (10 to 300 km, weeks to months) physical variability

strongly modulates the structure, biomass, and rates of marine

ecosystems and their functioning in the ocean. Physical

modulation occurs either directly by turbulent advection and

stirring or indirectly by impacts on phytoplankton growth rates

and trophic interactions via nutrient enrichment,

upwelling/downwelling, and changes of the mixed layer depth and

thus mean light field. Here, we extend earlier work (Doney et

al., 2003) by quantifying the seasonal and interannual

variability in mesoscale biological signals contained within the

13-year SeaWiFS (1998-2010) and 8-year MODIS (2003-2010)

chlorophyll-a ocean color data. This poster will review our

methods for data processing and structure function analysis of

the ocean color data. Then we will present the geographical

distribution of the inter-annual variability observed in the two

data records. Our results demonstrate the differences in

magnitude and similarities in scales of variability between

these two sensors. This directly addresses the following

issues: the temporal and spatial variability of primary

productivity and new production using chlorophyll as a proxy and

the intercomparison of two satellite sensors that ostensibly

measure the same ocean variable, with the ultimate goal of

combining the two time series to create a climate data record.

Understanding how well these two sensors map onto each other is

critical for evaluating trends observed on climatic time scales

and for comparing these findings to higher resolution, coupled

ecosystem-ocean general circulation models.

Presentation: 2011_Poster_Glover_181_208.pdf (1087k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Other   (Tue 11:30 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Glover, David: Assessing the Impact of Ocean Acidification on Marine Planktonic Calcification Using Satellite Anlaysis and Earth System Modeling ...details
• Related Activity

Poster Location ID: 181