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Particulate optical scattering coefficients along an Atlantic Meridional Transect Public Deposited

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/bc386j944

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  • The particulate optical backscattering coefficient (bbₚ) is a fundamental optical property that allows monitoring of marine suspended particles both in situ and from space. Backscattering measurements in the open ocean are still scarce, however, especially in oligotrophic regions. Consequently, uncertainties remain in bbₚ parameterizations as well as in satellite estimates of bbₚ. In an effort to reduce these uncertainties, we present and analyze a dataset collected in surface waters during the 19th Atlantic Meridional Transect. Results show that the relationship between particulate beam-attenuation coefficient (cₚ) and chlorophyll-a concentration was consistent with published bio-optical models. In contrast, the particulate backscattering per unit of chlorophyll-a and per unit of cₚ were higher than in previous studies employing the same sampling methodology. These anomalies could be due to a bias smaller than the current uncertainties in bbₚ. If that was the case, then the AMT19 dataset would confirm that bbₚ:cₚ is remarkably constant over the surface open ocean. A second-order decoupling between bbₚ and cₚ was, however, evident in the spectral slopes of these coefficients, as well as during diel cycles. Overall, these results emphasize the current difficulties in obtaining accurate bbₚ measurements in the oligotrophic ocean and suggest that, to first order, bbₚ and cₚ are coupled in the surface open ocean, but they are also affected by other geographical and temporal variations.
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  • Dall'olmo, G., Boss, E., Behrenfeld, M. J., & Westberry, T. K. (2012). Particulate optical scattering coefficients along an atlantic meridional transect. Optics Express, 20(19), 21532-21551.
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  • 20
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  • 19
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  • G.D.O. was funded by NASA grant NNX09AK30G and by the UK National Centre for Earth Observations. This study was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council National Capability funding to Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
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