Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1983. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-75).

Two oceanographic cruises were conducted during September 2003 and March 2004 in the eastern half of the Cariaco Basin. Specific objectives were to examine the hydrography of the seasonal upwelling plume characteristic of this region, the spatial distribution of particles in the area, and to help determine the source and relative importance of in situ particle production vs. terrigenous particles delivered laterally from the coast. During September 2003, average surface salinities within the basin were higher (36.6) relative to Caribbean Sea waters outside the basin (35.6). Salinity patterns indicated that the Orinoco and Amazon River plumes did not enter or influenced the basin directly. The upwelling plume in March 2004 stimulated primary productivity. Beam attenuation and CDOM fluorescence profiles showed marked vertical structure in biomass of microbial populations, particularly near the oxic-anoxic interface typically located between about 250 and 300 m. There is an increasing difference in temperature and salinity between the Cariaco Basin and the adjacent Caribbean Sea below 200 m. Inside the Basin temperatures and salinities were higher by 4oC and 0.5. The influence of local rivers on the Cariaco Basin was evident during September 2003. Low salinity plumes with high beam attenuation (1m-1) lined the southern margin of the Basin. The primary rivers that affected the basin were the Unare and Neverí Their sediment input affected the shelf near the river mouths, and a surrounding radius of up to 40 Km. Their low salinity plumes were carried northwestward toward the CARIACO time series station. In March 2004, there was minimal or no terrigenous input from local rivers. Near the Manzanares River, off the city of Cumaná and near Cubagua Island, located south of Margarita Island, attenuation due to suspended particles (0.09 m-1) was observed at depth (70-150 m) during both cruises (0.09-0.15 m-1). Therefore, sediment transport from the shelf into the basin seems to occur year-round. More observations are necessary to determine the nature and origin of these particles. In March 2004, there was minimal or no terrigenous input

Tese(mestrado) - Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós-graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, 2013. / Submitted by Cristiane Gomides (cristiane_gomides@hotmail.com) on 2013-11-18T12:52:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 AMABILE.pdf: 5765676 bytes, checksum: a4926b187c0614bc4d913a29b23870ab (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Angelica Miranda (angelicacdm@gmail.com) on 2013-11-18T19:07:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 AMABILE.pdf: 5765676 bytes, checksum: a4926b187c0614bc4d913a29b23870ab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-11-18T19:07:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AMABILE.pdf: 5765676 bytes, checksum: a4926b187c0614bc4d913a29b23870ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Imagens de satélite da cor do oceano detectam intensas florações do fitoplâncton durante primavera e verão ao longo da quebra de plataforma Argentina, mas são escassas as medidas ópticas in situ na região. O objetivo geral desta tese foi investigar a variabilidade das propriedades ópticas das florações do fitoplâncton na quebra de plataforma Argentina e arredores. Entre 2006 e 2009, seis cruzeiros foram conduzidos com diversas medidas biológicas e físicas, incluindo medicões bio-ópticas, dentre as quais algumas inéditas na região. As seguintes medidas foram consideradas: coeficientes spectrais de absorção da luz pelo material particulado, que inclui o fitoplâncton e detritos; coeficiente de atenuação da luz pelo material particulado a 660nm; irradiância descendente e radiância ascendente da luz com alta resolução espectral, a partir das quais se obtém os coeficientes da atenuação difusa e a reflectância do sensoriamento remoto in situ; reflectância do sensoriamento remoto medida por satélite; concentração de clorofila-a total e fracionada por classes de tamanho do fitoplâncton estimada pelo método fluorimétrico; concentrações de clorofila-a e pigmentos acessórios do fitoplâncton, obtidas por HPLC; abundância taxonômica relativa do fitoplâncton estimada por CHEMTAX; e fator de tamanho celular do fitoplâncton estimado pelos espectros de absorção da luz pelo fitoplâncton. Grande variabilidade foi observada nos coeficientes de absorção, atenuação (e espalhamento) e atenuação difusa da luz para uma dada concentração de clorofila-a e vice-versa. Grande parte dessa variabilidade pôde ser explicada por variações no tamanho celular do fitoplâncton e, portanto, ao efeito “pacote”. A variabilidade nos espectros de reflectância do sensoriamento remoto (propriedade óptica aparente) medidos in situ revelou o fitoplâncton como componente dominante nas propriedades ópticas das florações na região. Porém, a variabilidade nos coeficientes específicos (i.e., normalizados por clorofila-a) de absorção e espalhamento (propriedades ópticas inerentes), devido a variações no tamanho celular do fitoplâncton, influenciou o desempenho de modelos bio-ópticos para estimar concentração de clorofila-a por satélite. As principais situações de composição taxonômica do fitoplâncton que ocorrem durante as florações na região (dominância por diatomáceas, haptofíceas, e com contribuições destes grupos e de outros, sem dominância) foram refletidas de forma coerente nos comportamentos espectrais de absorção da luz pelo fitoplâncton, indicando o potencial em discriminar as assembleias das florações na região através de dados ópticos. Particularmente, a identificação de dominância de diatomáceas e haptofíceas, a partir de um comprimento de onda, e também pelo fator de tamanho celular do fitoplâncton, que pode ser estimado por satélite, indica o potencial em identificar a dominância de tais grupos taxonômicos por sensoriamento remoto na região. / Satellite images usually detect intense phytoplankton blooms during spring and summer along the Argentina shelf break. Because in situ optical measurements are scarce in the region, six cruises were conducted from 2006 to 2009 to measure several physical, biological, and optical properties. Some of the bio-optical properties were gathered for the first time in the region. The aim of this thesis was to characterize the optical properties of phytoplankton blooms along the Argentina shelf break e adjacent areas. For this purpose, the following measurements and data were considered: light absorption coefficients of particulate material that includes phytoplankton and detritus; light attenuation coefficient of particulate material at 660 nm; hyperspectral downwelling irradiance and upwelling radiance, from which one obtains the vertical attenuation coefficients for downwards irradiance and upwards radiance and in situ reflectance of remote sensing; total and size-fractionated chlorophyll-concentration, estimated by fluorimetric method; concentrations of chlorophyll-a and accessory pigments of phytoplankton obtained by HPLC; relative taxonomic abundance of phytoplankton estimated by CHEMTAX; a cell size parameter for phytoplankton estimated from the phytoplankton absorption spectra. Large variability was observed for absorption coefficients of phytoplankton, scattering of particles and the vertical attenuation coefficients for downwards irradiance for a given chlorophyll-a concentration. Such variability could be largely explained by variations in cell size of phytoplankton and therefore the "package" effect, as indicated by the cell size parameter. The characterization of the variability in the remote sensing reflectance (apparent optical property) measured in situ revealed phytoplankton as the dominant component on the optical properties of algal blooms in the region. Nevertheless, the variability in absorption and scattering coefficients (inherent optical properties) due to variations in cell size of phytoplankton was shown to impact the performance of bio-optical models that relies on band reflectance ratios of remote sensing to retrieve chlorophyll-a from satellite. The main taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton blooms (dominance of diatoms, haptophytes, and mixed contributions of these and others groups, but with no dominance) was consistently reflected on the spectral shape of light absorption of phytoplankton. Our results indicate a potential to discriminate phytoplankton assemblages in the region through optical data. Particularly, the identification of diatoms or haptophytes using one wavelength or through a phytoplankton cell size parameter, which can be estimated from satellite, has a potential of identifying the dominance of such taxonomic groups from remote sensing in the region.

The objective of this dissertation is to gain a better understanding of the environmental and climatic effects on the temporal and spatial variability of phytoplankton biomass along the West Florida Shelf. Chapter 1 examines temporal and spatial patterns in chlorophyll concentrations using satellite data collected between 1997 and 2003. Chlorophyll data derived from the SeaWiFS sensor are validated with in-situ data and analyzed. Wind, current, sea surface temperature, river, and rain data are used to better understand the factors responsible for the patterns observed in the satellite data. My question is whether the standard OC4 algorithm is adequate for studying short-term variability of chlorophyll concentrations along the WFS. I will examine temporal and spatial trends using the OC4 and compare them to the Carder semianalytical algorithm which uses remote sensing reflectances at 412nm, 443nm, 490nm,and 555nm to estimate chlorophyll concentrations separately from CDOM estimates. In Chapters 2 and 3 the potential problems due to CDOM and bottom reflectance are examined. In Chapter 2 I analyze the influence of riverine induced CDOM. Water leaving radiances are analyzed in an effort to discriminate true chlorophyll patterns from CDOM contaminated signals. Chapter 3 examines the impact of bottom reflectance on the satellite signal by using the percentage of remote sensing reflectance at a wavelength of 555 to differentiate between optically shallow waters and optically deep waters. Optically shallow waters are defined as those with the percentage of Rrs at 555 due to bottom reflectance greater than or equal to 25 percent, while optically deep waters have percent bottom reflectance less than or equal to 25 percent. These analyses will help assess the validity of the temporal and spatial patterns ofchlorophyll concentration observed with the SeaWiFS data described in Chapter 1.