A Satellite-Based Lagrangian View on Phytoplankton Dynamics

The well-lit upper layer of the open ocean is a dynamical environment that hosts approximately half of global primary production. In the remote parts of this environment, distant from the coast and from the seabed, there is no obvious spatially fixed reference frame for describing the dynamics of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnual review of marine science Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 99 - 119
Main Authors Lehahn, Yoav, d'Ovidio, Francesco, Koren, Ilan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Annual Reviews 03.01.2018
Annual Reviews, Inc
Subjects
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Blooms
Carbon
Distribution
Distribution patterns
Dynamics
Ecosystem
Environmental Sciences
horizontal stirring
Lagrangian analysis
marine ecosystem
mesoscale
Ocean floor
Ocean, Atmosphere
Oceanography
Oceanography - methods
Organic matter
Organisms
Physical oceanography
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton - physiology
Primary production
remote sensing
Satellite Imagery
Satellite observation
Satellites
Sciences of the Universe
Spatial distribution
marine ecosystem
phytoplankton
Lagrangian analysis
remote sensing
horizontal stirring
mesoscale
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Summary:The well-lit upper layer of the open ocean is a dynamical environment that hosts approximately half of global primary production. In the remote parts of this environment, distant from the coast and from the seabed, there is no obvious spatially fixed reference frame for describing the dynamics of the microscopic drifting organisms responsible for this immense production of organic matter-the phytoplankton. Thus, a natural perspective for studying phytoplankton dynamics is to follow the trajectories of water parcels in which the organisms are embedded. With the advent of satellite oceanography, this Lagrangian perspective has provided valuable information on different aspects of phytoplankton dynamics, including bloom initiation and termination, spatial distribution patterns, biodiversity, export of carbon to the deep ocean, and, more recently, bottom-up mechanisms that affect the distribution and behavior of higher-trophic-level organisms. Upcoming submesoscale-resolving satellite observations and swarms of autonomous platforms open the way to the integration of vertical dynamics into the Lagrangian view of phytoplankton dynamics.
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ISSN:1941-1405
1941-0611
DOI:10.1146/annurev-marine-121916-063204