HR: 13:55h
AN: B13G-02 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Biogeochemical and Remote Sensing Approaches to Evaluating the Sources and Fates of DOM and Particles in the U.S. Middle Atlantic Bight
AU: * Mannino, A
EM: antonio.mannino@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 614.2, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Russ, M E
EM: meruss@neptune-web.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center / NASA GSFC, Mail Code 614.8, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Hooker, S B
EM: stan@ardbeg.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 614.2, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AB: Estuaries and the coastal ocean experience a high degree of variability in the composition and concentration of particulate and dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a consequence of riverine/estuarine fluxes of terrigenous DOM, sediments, detritus and nutrients into coastal waters and associated phytoplankton blooms. Our approach integrates biogeochemical measurements (elemental content, stable isotopes and molecular analyses), optical properties (absorbance) and remote sensing to examine the sources and fates of organic matter in the U.S. Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB). Remote sensing of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) is applied to track terrigenous DOM and quantify dissolved organic carbon (DOC) within the coastal ocean. Satellite validation analyses demonstrate successful retrieval of particulate organic carbon (POC), DOC, and CDOM absorption coefficient (a_CDOM) for coastal ocean waters using the MODIS-Aqua and SeaWiFS satellite sensors with absolute percent differences between satellite and field measurements of 8±6.4% for DOC, 18±15% for a_CDOM(355 nm) and 25±17% for POC. The seasonal processes that influence CDOM distributions in the MAB include freshwater discharge, photooxidation, and wind-induced vertical mixing in autumn and winter. DOC and POC distributions are driven primarily by river/estuary discharge, net ecosystem production, and the ocean circulation pattern along the shelf and continental slope. Satellite data analysis of a_CDOM can be used to quantify photooxidation rates, track the inputs of terrigenous DOM from rivers or estuaries into the coastal ocean and beyond, and trace water masses with different CDOM signatures. Satellite-derived DOC and POC can be applied to quantify the fluxes of DOC and POC entering the coastal ocean and exported from the continental margin to the open ocean, estimate net C production, and assess the standing stocks of DOC and POC.
DE: 0480 Remote sensing
DE: 4219 Continental shelf and slope processes (3002)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting