Temporal and spatial distribution of chlorophyll- a in surface waters of the Scotia Sea as determined by both shipboard measurements and satellite data

• Published in: Deep-sea research. Part II, Topical studies in oceanography Topical studies in oceanography, 2004-01, Vol.51 (12), p.1323-1331
• Main Authors: Holm-Hansen, O., Kahru, M., Hewes, C.D., Kawaguchi, S., Kameda, T., Sushin, V.A., Krasovski, I., Priddle, J., Korb, R., Hewitt, R.P., Mitchell, B.G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Marine
• ISSN: 0967-0645; 1879-0100
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2004.06.004

Chlorophyll- a (Chl- a) concentrations in surface waters were measured at 137 hydrographic stations occupied by four research vessels participating in the CCAMLR 2000 Survey and the values were compared to estimates from data acquired by the SeaWiFS satellite. The Chl- a concentrations measured on board ship ranged from 0.06 to 14.6 mg m −3, a range that includes most surface Chl- a concentrations during mid-summer in the Southern Ocean. Owing to persistent cloud cover over much of the Southern Ocean, it was necessary to acquire multi-day composites of satellite data in order to obtain reliable estimates of Chl- a at each of the hydrographic stations. The correlation between the median value for the eight-day composites and the Chl- a concentrations measured on board ship had an R 2 value of 0.82, with the satellite data under-estimating the values obtained on board ship at high Chl- a concentrations and slightly over-estimating the shipboard data at Chl- a concentrations of