Time series of coccolithophore activity in the Barents Sea, from twenty years of satellite imagery
Authors:
- 2 June 2004
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 31 (11)
Abstract
Blooms of the coccolithophorid Emiliana huxleyi may be sensitive to climate change. A comparison of global Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS, 1978–1986) and Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor (SeaWiFS, 1997–present) imagery appears to show them advancing into some sub‐Arctic seas. To determine when coccolithophore blooms appeared in the Barents Sea this paper makes use of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) visible channel data which bridges the gap between the CZCS and SeaWiFS missions (1981–present). Analysis of over 3700 AVHRR images has shown coccolithophore blooms to be unambiguously present between 1989–1992 but probably absent in other pre‐SeaWiFS years. This paper shows a correlation between positive temperature ‐ negative salinity anomalies in the Barents Sea and bloom occurrence. If global warming continues to trigger increased warmth and freshwater runoff in the region then there may be an increased frequency of coccolithophore blooms within the Barents Sea.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- The cause of bright waters in the Bering Sea in winterContinental Shelf Research, 2003
- Analysis of satellite imagery for Emiliania huxleyi blooms in the Bering Sea before 1997Geophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Representing key phytoplankton functional groups in ocean carbon cycle models: CoccolithophoridsGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 2002
- Rapid freshening of the deep North Atlantic Ocean over the past four decadesNature, 2002
- Implications of the Recent Trend in the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation for the North Atlantic Thermohaline CirculationJournal of Climate, 2000
- Advances in Understanding Clouds from ISCCPBulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 1999
- Ocean colour and the spatial and seasonal distribution of phytoplankton in the Barents SeaInternational Journal of Remote Sensing, 1999
- Sea ice fields and atmospheric phenomena in Eurasiatic arctic seas as seen from the NOAA-12 satelliteInternational Journal of Remote Sensing, 1998
- Coccolithophorid blooms in the global oceanJournal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1994
- The solar radiation between 3300 and 12500Solar Physics, 1984