Estimation of Phytoplankton Responses to Hurricane Gonu over the Arabian Sea Based on Ocean Color Data

Sensors

Dongxiao Wang¹ 

关键词: Hurricane;    phytoplankton blooms;    Chlorophyll-a concentrations;    Arabian Sea;    remote sensing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s8084878

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this study the authors investigated phytoplankton variations in the Arabian Sea associated with Hurricane Gonu using remote-sensing data of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), sea surface temperature (SST) and winds. Additional data sets used for the study included the hurricane and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data. Hurricane Gonu, presenting extremely powerful wind intensity, originated over the central Arabian Sea (near 67.7°E, 15.1°N) on June 2, 2007; it traveled along a northwestward direction and made landfall in Iran around June 7. Before Hurricane Gonu, Chl-a data indicated relatively low phytoplankton biomass (0.05-0.2 mg m^-3), along with generally high SST (>28.5 °C) and weak wind (<10 m s^-1) in the Arabian Sea. Shortly after Gonu's passage, two phytoplankton blooms were observed northeast of Oman (Chl-a of 3.5 mg m^-3) and in the eastern central Arabian Sea (Chl-a of 0.4 mg m^-3), with up to 10-fold increase in surface Chl-a concentrations, respectively. The Chl-a in the two post-hurricane blooms were 46% and 42% larger than those in June of other years, respectively. The two blooms may be attributed to the storm-induced nutrient uptake, since hurricane can influence intensively both dynamical and biological processes through vertical mixing and Ekman Pumping.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2008 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.