Detection of Coccolithophore Blooms With BioGeoChemical-Argo Floats

26Citations
Citations of this article
47Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Coccolithophores (calcifying phytoplankton) form extensive blooms in temperate and subpolar oceans as evidenced from ocean-color satellites. This study examines the potential to detect coccolithophore blooms with BioGeoChemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats, autonomous ocean profilers equipped with bio-optical and physicochemical sensors. We first matched float data to ocean-color satellite data of calcite concentration to select floats that sampled coccolithophore blooms. We identified two floats in the Southern Ocean, which measured the particulate beam attenuation coefficient (cp) in addition to two core BGC-Argo variables, Chlorophyll-a concentration ([Chl-a]) and the particle backscattering coefficient (bbp). We show that coccolithophore blooms can be identified from floats by distinctively high values of (1) the bbp/cp ratio, a proxy for the refractive index of suspended particles, and (2) the bbp/[Chl-a] ratio, measurable by any BGC-Argo float. The latter thus paves the way to global investigations of environmental control of coccolithophore blooms and their role in carbon export.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Terrats, L., Claustre, H., Cornec, M., Mangin, A., & Neukermans, G. (2020). Detection of Coccolithophore Blooms With BioGeoChemical-Argo Floats. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(23). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090559

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free