QuikSCAT satellite based vector wind data were used to examine wind influence on SeaWiFS derived chlorophyll a (chlorophyll) surface distribution in the northern Gulf of Mexico waters influenced by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, the largest in North America. Short-term satellite derived wind field revealed a systematic shift in direction and amplitude of the winds during a cold front passage in March 2002 that strongly influenced the surface chlorophyll distribution. Both the offshore extent and westward transport of enhanced surface chlorophyll biomass increased following the frontal passage. Monthly surface wind stress derived from the 12.5 km high resolution QuikSCAT winds mapped along with SeaWiFS derived surface chlorophyll during a low flow and a normal river discharge year in 2000 and 2001 indicated the dominant role of river discharge in influencing the concentration and extent of chlorophyll in the plume and inner shelf waters. However the magnitude and direction of wind stress strongly influenced the plume orientation and the cross-shelf extent of a coastal band of elevated chlorophyll. Wind stress also influenced the offshore cross-shelf variability in surface chlorophyll distribution.

Date Published: 9 September 2009
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 7473, Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, and Large Water Regions 2009, 747305 (9 September 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.830537

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7473:
Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, and Large Water Regions 2009
Charles R. Bostater; Stelios P. Mertikas; Xavier Neyt; Miguel Velez-Reyes, Editor(s)