MODIS level-3: Tracing Emiliania blooms in The Barents Sea

Coccolithophorid bloom formation is suspected to be both sensitive to, and have an effect on, long term climatic variations. These seasonal blooms have been shown through the use of satellite imagery to be advancing into the Barents sea since the onset of the remote sensing era with the launch of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) in 1978. In this paper we exploit the marked effect coccoliths have on the light properties of water to trace coccolithophorid blooms by analysing satellite images. All major coccolithophorid blooms in the Barents sea are identified from the MODIS data available since the measurements began July 2002, until 2005. These blooms are assessed with respect to expansion, movement, phytoplankton biomass and calcite production using a combination of in situ data history and ecological knowledge of bloom-forming coccolithophorids, and simple image processing techniques. Propagation of the blooms is further seen in relation to sea surface temperature as an indicator of the influx of warm Atlantic water and cold Arctic water into the Barents sea.