Trends in Winter Light Environment Over the Arctic Ocean: A Perspective From Two Decades of Ocean Color Data

Jonsson, B, Sathyendranath, S and Platt, T 2020 Trends in Winter Light Environment Over the Arctic Ocean: A Perspective From Two Decades of Ocean Color Data. Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (16). 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089037

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Abstract/Summary

The last few decades have seen a decrease in Arctic ice cover, leading to changes in the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Yet sustained long-term observations of the marine environment are difficult to acquire. Harsh environments limit in situ measurements, while low light and high solar angles hinder ocean color observations from satellite. Here we use masks of validinvalid oceancolor pixels to diagnose ocean conditions and nd strong positive trends in the Arctic openwater season close to the ice sheet, generally consistent with sea ice products from satellites. The North East Atlantic with no seasonal ice cover shows weaker, but signicant trends indicative of decreasing winter cloud cover.Decreases in both sea ice and cloud cover will increase light availability at the sea surface and potentially enhance phytoplankton growth. Our method allows the winter light conditions to be studied at temporal and spatial scales relevant for phytoplankton dynamics.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	This work is dedicated to the memory of Trevor Platt, our co-author, mentor and inspiration. We are grateful for the constructive comments from two anonymous re viewers that helped to improve the paper signicantly. The work was supported by a Simons Foundation Grant (549947, S. S.)Computational Biogeochemical Modeling of Marine Ecosystems(CBIOMES). This paper is a contribution to the Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI)and Biological Pump and Carbon Exchange Processes (BICEP) projects ofESA. Additional support from the National Centre for Earth Observations(UK) is also gratefully acknowledged
Additional Keywords:	In the Arctic, the ocean colour derived open water season is lengthening by up to 2 days per year. Winter ocean color satellite coverage starts to degrade at 52°N for the Northern Hemisphere. Analysis suggests signicant decreasing trends in winter cloud cover in sub-Arctic waters of the northern Atlantic
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Earth Observation Science and Applications
Depositing User:	S Hawkins
Date made live:	04 May 2021 11:12
Last Modified:	04 May 2021 11:12
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9203

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