Comparative analysis of chlorophyll-a concentrations obtained using flow fluorometric measurements carried out on the board vessel, and chlorophyll-a concentrations calculated by MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS satellite data of ocean color was conducted. The ship data were adjusted to standard spectrophotometric measurements and vertical depth distribution of phytoplankton. Investigations were done in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, De Long Strait in August 2013. In waters of the Russian Eastern Arctic satellite radiometers versus ship-borne measurements of chlorophyll-a concentration were overestimated, which was associated with relatively high content of colored dissolved organic matter at upper layers. In De Long Straight satellite estimation didn't reflect overall viewing on the depth integrated chlorophyll-a concentration, as in this area the bulk of the phytoplankton with chlorophyll-a concentration around 10-20 mg/m³ was located in the depth layer with 3-5% illumination relative to the surface light level. In the analyzed waters VIIRS gave more accurate measurements of chlorophyll-a concentration as compared to using MODIS-Aqua satellite data with processing procedures № 2013.1.

Date Published: 18 December 2014
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9261, Ocean Remote Sensing and Monitoring from Space, 92610Q (18 December 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2068987

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9261:
Ocean Remote Sensing and Monitoring from Space
Robert J. Frouin; Delu Pan; Hiroshi Murakami, Editor(s)