BIOINFORMATIC MAPPING OF OCEAN BIOGEOCHEMICAL

PROVINCESMatthew Oliver (U. Del.)

Oscar Schofield (Rutgers)

Andrew Irwin (Mt. Allison University)

Paul Falkowski (Rutgers)

Static, manual provinces

Longhurst (1995, 1998, 2006)

Questions• Can We Make Dynamic

Provinces (space-time variant)?

• Why?

• Biome boundaries are predictive of hydrography

• Changes in biome size and distributions are bellwethers for cyclical and secular earth cycles

• True comparative analysis by controlling for advection (ie making provinces a quantitative measurement)

Automatic unsupervised classification

Oliver et al (2004) JGR Oceans

SeaWiFSMODIS/AquaAVHRR SST

2006 Annual mean

Maps are quite similar

Are they real?

Time Series

Province areas (sum of 3)

ENSO indexes

2003 Jan 2006 Dec

Jan 2006

Gyre area

Jan 1998

To

Dec 2006

Jan 2006

Gyre area

Jan 1998

To

Dec 2006

Months since January 1998Months since January 1998

Are

a of

Bio

me

(% o

f E

arth

)A

rea

of B

iom

e (%

of

Ear

th)

Southern Hemisphere GyresSouthern Hemisphere Gyres

Northern Hemisphere GyresNorthern Hemisphere Gyres

Months since January 1998Months since January 1998

Are

a of

Bio

me

(% o

f E

arth

)A

rea

of B

iom

e (%

of

Ear

th)

Southern Hemisphere GyresSouthern Hemisphere Gyres

Northern Hemisphere GyresNorthern Hemisphere Gyres

Are

a of

Bio

me

(% o

f E

arth

)A

rea

of B

iom

e (%

of

Ear

th)

Southern Hemisphere GyresSouthern Hemisphere Gyres

Northern Hemisphere GyresNorthern Hemisphere Gyres

Tot

al C

fix

atio

n (

g / d

) T

ren

dT

otal

C f

ixat

ion

(g

/ d)

Tre

nd

Combined Global Combined Global GyresGyres

Combined Tropical Combined Tropical SeasSeas

Jan 1998Jan 1998 Dec 2006Dec 2006

Informational Content in MODIS and Sea-WiFS/AVHRR are highly similar

Where are we?Have a verified method to make dynamic and

quantitative maps

Automatic Biomes reflect expert knowledge

Biomes are change in response to well known global processes

Biomes are being used to find cyclical and secular change in the ocean environment

Comparative analysis of primary production in provinces

Where are we going?• Iron Dust Impacts?

• Linking MODIS and Sea-WiFS/AVHRR records together

• Biomes/Water Masses as Fisheries Indicators

• Adding 3-D Structures to Biomes

1% 2% 3% 4%0%

φsat-NPQ

5% -2 210-1

Nutrient Stress Index

Iron Limited Nitrogen Limited

1% 2% 3% 4%0%

φsat-NPQ

5% -2 210-1

Nutrient Stress Index

Iron Limited Nitrogen Limited

Where are we going?• Iron Dust Impacts?

• Linking MODIS and Sea-WiFS/AVHRR records together

• Biomes/Water Masses as Fisheries Indicators

• Adding 3-D Structures to Biomes

NMFS Fish Stock Indicators

Where are we going?• Iron Dust Impacts?

• Linking MODIS and Sea-WiFS/AVHRR records together

• Biomes/Water Masses as Fisheries Indicators

• Adding 3-D Structures to Biomes

argo

Contact UsAndrew Irwin: airwin@mta.ca

Poster 227

Matt Oliver: moliver@udel.edu

Poster 218

Oliver et al (2004) JGR Oceans