We present the evolution of oceanographic conditions off the western coast of South America between 1996 and 1999, including the cold periods of 1996 and 1998–1999 and the 1997–1998 El Niño, using satellite observations of sea level, winds, sea surface temperature (SST), and chlorophyll concentration. Following a period of cold...
Concurrent satellite-measured chlorophyll (CHL), sea surface temperature (SST), sea level anomaly (SLA) and model-derived wind vectors from the 13+ year SeaWiFS period September 1997 – December 2010 quantify time and space patterns of phytoplankton variability and its links to physical forcing in the Pacific Ocean. The CHL fields are a...
The goal of the Pacific Ocean Boundary Ecosystem and Climate Study
(POBEX) was to diagnose the large-scale climate controls on regional transport
dynamics and lower trophic marine ecosystem variability in Pacific Ocean boundary
systems. An international team of collaborators shared observational and eddy-resolving
modeling data sets collected in the Northeast...
The Northern California Current (NCC) is a seasonally productive and open ecosystem. It is home to both a diverse endemic community and to seasonally transient species. Productivity and food web structure vary seasonally, interannually, and decadally due to variability in coastal upwelling, climate-scale physical processes, and the migratory species entering...
Satellite-derived data provide the temporal means and seasonal and nonseasonal
variability of four physical and biological parameters off Oregon and Washington
(41°–48.5°N). Eight years of data (1998–2005) are available for surface chlorophyll
concentrations, sea surface temperature (SST), and sea surface height, while six years of
data (2000–2005) are available for...
The evolution of oceanographic conditions in the upwelling region off northern Chile
(18°–24°S) between 1996 and 1998 (including the 1997–1998 El Niño) is presented using
hydrographic measurements acquired on quarterly cruises of the Chilean Fisheries Institute, with
sea surface temperature (SST), sea level, and wind speeds from Arica (18.5°S), Iquique...
Five years (1997–2002) of northern California Current SeaWiFS ocean color data put cold, low salinity hydrographic anomalies observed in summer 2002 into a spatial/temporal context and present their biological ramifications. Monthly mean chlorophyll concentrations were >1.0 mg m–3 larger than the previous 3 year average over the entire shelf from...