Fertilization Potention of Volcanic Dust in the Low-Nutrient Low-Chlorophyll Western North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: Satellite Evidence and Laboratory Study

Abstract

In the western North Pacific subtropical ocean, the Anatahan volcano of the Mariana Islands erupted on 10 May 2003 for the first time in recorded history. Based on nine different types of remote sensing data provided by NASA, laboratory experiment of the Anatahan samples, and a 3-D ocean circulation model developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the postvolcanic ocean biogeochemical response to the Anatahan eruption was explored. It was observed that soon after the eruption, the aerosol optical depth abruptly increased from the pre-eruption loading of -0.1 to ~2. In the week following the eruption, a "bloom-like" patch was observed by NASA's Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ocean color sensor. Based on the chlorophyll a, fluorescence line height (FLH), at-sensor total radiance, and normalized water-leaving radiance data obtained by MODIS, the cause of the bloom-like patch was diagnosed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 08, 2011
Accession Number
ADA547166

Entities

People

  • Chih-wei Huang
  • Chuanmin Hu
  • D. A. Chu
  • Dong S. Ko
  • George T. Wong
  • I. -i. Lin
  • Jen-ping Chen
  • Jingfeng Wu
  • Tobias P. Fischer
  • Tung-yuan Ho
  • Yuan-hui Li

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Chemistry
  • Detectors
  • Earth Sciences
  • Geography
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • North Pacific Ocean
  • Ocean Currents
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Particles
  • Remote Sensing
  • South China Sea
  • Three Dimensional
  • Topography

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Marine Ecotoxicology

Technology Areas

  • Space