Estimation of Phytoplankton Responses to Hurricane Gonu over the Arabian Sea Based on Ocean Color Data.docVIP

Sensors 2008, 8, 4878-4893; DOI: 10.3390/s8084878 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /sensors Article Estimation of Phytoplankton Responses to Hurricane Gonu over the Arabian Sea Based on Ocean Color Data Dongxiao Wang* and Hui Zhao Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Environmental Dynamics, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: dxwang@ Received: 11 July 2008; in revised form: 14 August 2008 / Accepted: 15 August 2008 / Published: 21 August 2008 Abstract: In this study the authors investigated phytoplankton variations in the Arabian Sea associated with Hurricane Gonu using remote-sensing data of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), sea surface temperature (SST) and winds. Additional data sets used for the study included the hurricane and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data. Hurricane Gonu, presenting extremely powerful wind intensity, originated over the central Arabian Sea (near 67.7oE, 15.1oN) on June 2, 2007; it traveled along a northwestward direction and made landfall in Iran around June 7. Before Hurricane Gonu, Chl-a data indicated relatively low phytoplankton biomass (0.05-0.2 mg m -3), along with generally high SST (28.5 oC) and weak wind (10 m s-1) in the Arabian Sea. Shortly after Gonu’s passage, two phytoplankton blooms were observed northeast of Oman (Chl- a of 3.5 mg m -3) and in the eastern central Arabian Sea (Chl- a of 0.4 mg m-3), with up to 10-fold increase in surface Chl-a concentrations, respectively. The Chl- a in the two post-hurricane blooms were 46% and 42% larger than those in June of other years, respectively. The two blooms may be attributed to the storm-induced nutrient uptake, since hurricane can influence intensively both dynamical and biological processes through vertical mixing and Ekman Pumping. Keywords: Hurricane, phytoplankton blooms, Chlor