Satellite (AVHRR/NOAA-9) and ship studies of a coccolithophorid bloom in the Western English Channel
Group GREPMA (1988). Satellite (AVHRR/NOAA-9) and ship studies of a coccolithophorid bloom in the Western English Channel. Mar. Nat. 1(1): 1-14
In: Marine Nature. Marine Science Institute, Yeungnam University: Kyongsan. ISSN 1225-990X, more
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| Abstract |
Routine satellite observations conducted in assistance to an oceanographic cruise called attention to anomalously high reflectance in the visible region of the spectrum (channels 1 and 2 of the meteorological radiometer AVHRR) off the northern coast of Brittany in July 1986. In situ measurements showed turbidity to be extremely high in the upper 7 meters although chlorophyll content and phytoplankton populations were moderately abundant throughout the water column. Scanning electron microscopy performed after the cruise revealed the presence of a dense suspension of disintegrated coccoliths of Emiliania huxleyi (up to 50 106 coccoliths 1 -l) in the turbid layer. Infrared imagery together with hydrological measurements suggested that the bloom had been initiated in a originally coastal, mixed water mass which had recently undergone seasonal stratification. This is thus the first evidence that coccolithophorids, and not only dinoflagellates, may be responsible for phytoplankton blooms along the Ushant tidal front. The usefullness of real-time assistance of remote sensing to plankton studies is emphasized. |
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