Winter–Spring Phytoplankton Phenology Associated with the Kuroshio Extension Instability

We used ocean color data of chlorophyll-a (CHL) from the period 1998 to 2017 to investigate phytoplankton phenology during winter–spring in association with the Kuroshio Extension (KE) instability. In the areas south of the KE, CHLs tended to be higher in winter during periods of unstable KEs (compa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-03, Vol.14 (5), p.1186
Main Authors: Siswanto, Eko, Sasai, Yoshikazu, Matsumoto, Kazuhiko, Honda, Makio C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anomalies
Availability
Chlorophyll
Kuroshio
mesoscale eddy
Nutrient availability
Nutrients
Ocean color
Phenology
Phytoplankton
phytoplankton phenology
Plankton
remote sensing
Spring
spring bloom
Winter
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Summary:We used ocean color data of chlorophyll-a (CHL) from the period 1998 to 2017 to investigate phytoplankton phenology during winter–spring in association with the Kuroshio Extension (KE) instability. In the areas south of the KE, CHLs tended to be higher in winter during periods of unstable KEs (compared to stable KEs) which were attributed to the increases in nutrient and light availability. Nutrients were supplied from the deep layer due to physical processes indicated by negative sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs) and shallow mixed layer depths (MLDs). The increase in light availability could be attributed to greater exposure of phytoplankton to light in the shallower MLD. The same physical processes also explained higher CHLs in spring during unstable KEs. We also found that CHLs could possibly be lower during unstable KEs in spring which might be related to warmer SSTs in winter–spring. On average, the onset of the phytoplankton spring bloom south of the KE tended to be 1–3 weeks earlier during the period of unstable KEs than during the period of stable KEs. Whether this difference of 1–3 weeks impacts high-trophic-level organisms should be investigated in future studies.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs14051186