North Atlantic Phytoplankton Bloom Bio-Optical Profiles from JGOFS

28 stations in the North Atlantic provide bio-optical data from the upper 100 meters of the water column, averaged into one-meter depth bins. The dataset was collected during the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study's North Atlantic Bloom Experiment from April to July 1989. It includes parameters like spectral irradiance, photosynthetically available radiation, and fluorescence, alongside CTD measurements.

Use Cases

• Modeling diffuse attenuation coefficients for various wavelengths to understand light penetration in the photic zone.
• Analyzing the relationship between photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and fluorescence measurements to estimate phytoplankton productivity.
• Correlating CTD-derived conductivity, temperature, and salinity data with optical parameters to study physical-biological coupling during a spring bloom.
• Using downwelling and upwelling spectral irradiance data to validate satellite ocean color algorithms.

Strengths

• Data collected at 28 stations provides spatial coverage from 18N to 72N and 8W to 47W.
• High vertical resolution with measurements averaged into one-meter depth intervals through the upper 100 meters.
• Multidisciplinary data collection combines bio-optical parameters with concurrent CTD (conductivity, temperature, salinity, density) and transmissometer readings.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single spring-summer period in 1989, lacking long-term or seasonal time series.
• Sample size is constrained to 28 stations, which may limit statistical power for basin-wide generalizations.
• Data freshness is low as the last update was in July 1989.

Provenance

Source

Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) North Atlantic Bloom Experiment.

Collection Method

Data collected using a bio-optical profiler, CTD, and transmissometer during research vessel cruises.

Time Range

April to July 1989.

Freshness

Single snapshot from 1989.

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean, stations located from 18N to 72N and 8W to 47W.