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Altimetry and Biogeochemistry. Adrian Martin With input from John Allen, Graham Quartly, Meric Srokosz, AndrewYool. Altimetry and Biogeochemistry. Biomes: the big picture 3 examples: - Silica cycle - Filaments - Biodiversity The role of altimetry
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Altimetry and Biogeochemistry Adrian Martin With input from John Allen, Graham Quartly, Meric Srokosz, AndrewYool
Altimetry and Biogeochemistry • Biomes: the big picture • 3 examples: • - Silica cycle • - Filaments • - Biodiversity • The role of altimetry • Why wide swath is good news
Biomes Sarmiento et al., GBC, VOL. 18, GB3003, doi:10.1029/2003GB002134, 2004
Biomes Need multidisciplinary local studies to characterise each biome. Such detailed studies crucial to understand how functioning of biome responds to different forcing.
Phytoplankton & biogeochemistry diatoms coccolithophores
Silica cycle FISHES Cruise, 2001 Allen, J.T. et al. (2005) Nature, 437, 728-732.
Filaments Cruise D321 August 2007
Filaments SST -22 -20 60 59 SSH
Biodiversity Picophytoplankton Heterotrophs Synechococcus Large phytoplankton Bacteria Viruses
Central problem How do we extrapolate knowledge of processes at a local scale to quantitative estimates at the biome scale?
The role of altimetry Altimetry offers information crucial to extrapolating to the biome scale. Specifically it offers: - a physical context - dynamical information - a means of tracking features - a means of auditing features - data even when there is cloud
So why is wide-swath so much better? Better resolution of currents Higher resolution of features Less gaps for features to ‘fall into’ Potential for quantifying vertical fluxes
Workshop questions 5) What other remote measurements would complement the altimetric data? HR wind, SST, colour, pigments, SSS 6) What other chemical & biological properties of seawater would it be useful to measure together with SSH? Depends on the question…
What specification for biogeochemistry? O(100km) swath width - to cover a process cruise area - large enough to accommodate scale of local mesoscale features Re-visit every 5 days Ability to resolve 10km features (20km wavelength)