HR: 10:20h
AN: OS31D-01    [PDF]
TI: MODIS Ocean Primary Productivity and the Thermocline Circulation During the 2002-2003 El Ni\~{n}o
AU: * Yuan, D
EM: dyuan@daac.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Code 902, DAAC NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Savtchenko, A
EM: asavtche@daac.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Code 902, DAAC NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Gopalan, A
EM: gopalan@eosdata.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Code 902, DAAC NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Acker, J
EM: acker@eosdata.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Code 902, DAAC NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: Global ocean primary production anomalies, estimated using data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on board of Terra satellite, and results from an ocean general circulation model during the 2002-2003 El Ni\~{n}o are analyzed to study the influence of ocean circulation on the interannual variations of ocean productivity. As the El Ni\~{n}o progresses from 2002 into 2003, the interannual anomalies of the primary production show marked decrease in the eastern equatorial Pacific, whereas the northern off-equatorial Atlantic and the western Indian Ocean reveal a strong increase. The model results show that the thermocline was anomalously depressed in the eastern equatorial Pacific whereas it is significantly lifted in the northern off-equatorial Atlantic and in the western Indian Ocean during the 2002-2003 El Ni\~{n}o. It is, therefore, suggested that the enhanced productivity may be induced significantly by the ocean upwelling anomalies. We also make a preliminary assessment of the possible impact of atmospheric aerosols (retrieved by MODIS) on the ocean primary productivity.
DE: 4215 Climate and interannual variability (3309)
DE: 4231 Equatorial oceanography
DE: 4522 El Ni¤o
DE: 4801 Aerosols (0305)
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles (1615)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting