• European Marine Science
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Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a survival strategy adopted by zooplankton, that was investigated in the Corsica Channel using ADCP data, from April 2014 to November 2016. The principal aim of the study is to characterize migratory patterns and biomass temporal evolution along the water column. The ADCP measured vertical velocity and echo intensity in the water column range between about 70 m and 390 m (the bottom depth is 443 m). In addition, net samples were taken during summer 2015 at the same location. During the investigated period, biomass had a well-defined daily and seasonal cycle, with peaks occurring in late winter–spring, when the stratification of water column is weaker. Biomass evolution along the whole water column is well correlated with primary production estimated with satellite data. Blooming and no-blooming periods have been identified and studied separately. During the no-blooming period biomass was most abundant in the surface and the deep layers, while during the blooming period the surface maximum disappeared and the deep layer with high biomass became thicker. These two layers are likely to correspond to two different zooplanktonic communities. Nocturnal DVM appears to be the main pattern during both periods, but also reverse and twilight migration are detected. Nocturnal DVM was more evident at mid-water than near in the deep and the surface layers. DVM occurred with different intensities in blooming and no-blooming periods, and phenomena like nocturnal sinking were found to be stronger during the blooming period. One of the main outcomes is that the principal drivers for DVM are light intensity and stratification, but also others are taken in consideration.

This note describes a profiling mooring with an interdisciplinary suite of sensors taking profiles between 180 and 30 m depth. It consists of an underwater winch, moored below 180 m depth, and a profiling instrumentation platform. In its described setup it can take about 200 profiles at pre-programmed times or intervals with one set of batteries. This allows for studies over an extended period of time (e.g. two daily profiles over a time of 3 months). The Gotland Deep Environmental Sampling Station (GODESS) in the Eastern Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea is aimed at investigations of redoxcline dynamics. The described system can be readily adapted to other research foci by changing the profiling instrumentation platform and its payload.

In this study, Algal Pigment Index 2 (API2) is investigated in Sagres, an area located in the Atlantic off the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Standard results provided by the MEdium Resolution Image Spectrometer (MERIS) ocean colour sensor were compared with alternative data products, determined through a regional inversion scheme, using both MERIS and in situ remote sensing reflectances (Rrs) as input data. The reference quantity for performance assessment is in situ total chlorophyll a (TChl a) concentration estimated through a phytoplankton absorption coefficient (i.e. equivalent to API2). Additional comparison of data products has also been addressed for TChl a concentration determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The MERIS matchup analysis revealed a systematic underestimation of TChl a, which was confirmed with an independent comparison of product map analysis. The study demonstrates the importance of regional algorithms for the study area that could complement upcoming standard results of the current Sentinel-3/OLCI space mission.

A web-based validation platform has been developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) for the Near Real Time validation of the MyOcean-Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Centre products (Med-MFC). A network for the collection of the in-situ observations, the nested sub-basin forecasting systems model data (provided by the partners of the Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network, MOON) and the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) satellite data has been developed and is updated every day with the new available data. The network collects temperature, salinity, currents and sea level data. The validation of the biogeochemical forecast products is done by use of ocean colour satellite data produced for the Mediterranean Sea. All the data are organized in an ad hoc database interfaced with a dedicated software which allows interactive visualizations and statistics (CalVal SW). This tool allows to evaluate NRT products by comparison with independent observations for the first time. The heterogeneous distribution and the scarcity of moored observations reflect with large areas uncovered with measurements. Nevertheless, the evaluation of the forecast at the locations of observations could be very useful to discover sub-regions where the model performances can be improved, thus yielding an important complement to the basin-mean statistics regularly calculated for the Mediterranean MFC products using semi-independent observations.

The analysis of measured nutrient concentrations suggests that the ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) alteration before and after spring blooms relative to the alteration of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) remains quite constant over the years (2000~2009). This ratio differs from the Redfield ratio and varies from 6.6 : 1 to 41.5 : 1 across basins within the Baltic Sea. If the found N/P ratios are indicators of phytoplankton stoichiometry, this would affect nutrient cycles in ecosystem models. We therefore tested the effects of using horizontally variable N/P ratio instead of fixed ratio (N/P = 10 : 1 or 16 : 1) on phytoplankton uptake and remineralization in a 3-D physical-biogeochemical coupled model ERGOM. The model results using the variable N/P ratio show systematical improvements in model performance in comparison with the fixed ratios. In addition, variable N/P ratios greatly affected the model estimated primary production, nitrogen fixation and nutrient limitation, which highlights the importance of using an accurate N/P ratio.

The flow of warm and saline water from the Atlantic Ocean, across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge, into the Nordic Seas – the Atlantic inflow – is split into three separate branches. The most intense of these branches is the inflow between Iceland and the Faroe Islands (Faroes), which is focused into the Faroe Current, north of the Faroes. The Atlantic inflow is an integral part of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC), which is projected to weaken during the 21st century and might conceivably reduce the oceanic heat and salt transports towards the Arctic. Since the mid-1990s, hydrographic properties and current velocities of the Faroe Current have been monitored along a section extending north from the Faroe shelf. From these in situ observations, time series of volume, heat, and salt transport have previously been reported, but the high variability of the transport has made it difficult to establish whether there are trends. Here, we present results from a new analysis of the Faroe Current where the in situ observations have been combined with satellite altimetry. For the period 1993 to 2013, we find the average volume transport of Atlantic water in the Faroe Current to be 3.8 ± 0.5 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) with a heat transport relative to 0 °C of 124 ± 15 TW (1 TW = 1012 W). Consistent with other results for the Northeast Atlantic component of the THC, we find no indication of weakening. The transports of the Faroe Current, on the contrary, increased. The overall increase over the 2 decades of observation was 9 ± 8 % for volume transport and 18 ± 9 % for heat transport (95 % confidence intervals). During the same period, the salt transport relative to the salinity of the deep Faroe Bank Channel overflow (34.93) more than doubled, potentially strengthening the feedback on thermohaline intensity. The increased heat and salt transports are partly caused by the increased volume transport and partly by increased temperatures and salinities of the Atlantic inflow, which have been claimed mainly to be caused by the weakened subpolar gyre.

The extending record of ocean colour derived information, an important asset for the study of marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry, presently relies on individual satellite missions launched by several space agencies with differences in sensor design, calibration strategies and algorithms. In this study we present an extensive comparative analysis of standard products obtained from operational global ocean colour sensors (SeaWiFS, MERIS, MODIS-Aqua, MODIS-Terra), on both global and regional scales. The analysis is based on monthly mean chlorophyll a (Chl-a) sea surface concentration between 2002 and 2009. Based on global statistics, the Chl-a records appear relatively consistent. The root mean square (RMS) difference Δ between (log-transformed) Chl-a from SeaWiFS and MODIS Aqua amounts to 0.137, with a bias of 0.074 (SeaWiFS Chl-a higher). The difference between these two products and MERIS Chl-a is approximately 0.15. Restricting the analysis to 2007 only, Δ between MODIS Aqua and Terra is 0.142. This global convergence is significantly modulated regionally. Statistics for biogeographic provinces representing a partition of the global ocean, show Δ values varying between 0.08 and 0.3. High latitude regions, as well as coastal and shelf provinces are generally the areas with the largest differences. Moreover, RMS differences and biases are modulated in time, with a coefficient of variation of Δ varying between 10% and 40%, with clear seasonal patterns in some provinces. The comparison of the province-averaged time series obtained from the various satellite products also shows a level of agreement that is geographically variable. Overall, the Chl-a SeaWiFS and MODIS Aqua series appear to have similar levels of variance and display high correlation coefficients, an agreement likely favoured by the common elements shared by the two missions. These results are degraded if the MERIS series is compared to either SeaWiFS or MODIS Aqua. An important outcome of the study is that the results of the inter-comparison analysis are variable with time and location, and therefore globally averaged statistics are not necessarily applicable on a seasonal or regional basis.

We develop and implement a new method to take into account the impact of waves into the 3-D circulation model SYMPHONIE (Marsaleix et al., 2008, 2009a) following the simplified equations of Bennis et al. (2011) which use glm2z-RANS theory (Ardhuin et al., 2008c). These adiabatic equations are completed by additional parameterizations of wave breaking, bottom friction and wave-enhanced vertical mixing, making the forcing valid from the surf zone through to the open ocean. The wave forcing is performed by wave generation and propagation models WAVEWATCH III® (Tolman, 2008, 2009; Ardhuin et al., 2010) and SWAN (Booij et al., 1999). The model is tested and compared with other models for a plane beach test case, previously tested by Haas and Warner (2009)and Uchiyama et al. (2010). A comparison is also made with the laboratory measurements of Haller et al. (2002) of a barred beach with channels. Results fit with previous simulations performed by other models and with available observational data. Finally, a realistic case is simulated with energetic waves travelling over a coast of the Gulf of Lion (in the northwest of the Mediterranean Sea) for which currents are available at different depths as well as an accurate bathymetric database of the 0–10 m depth range. A grid nesting approach is used to account for the different forcings acting at different spatial scales. The simulation coupling the effects of waves and currents is successful to reproduce the powerful northward littoral drift in the 0–15 m depth zone. More precisely, two distinct cases are identified: When waves have a normal angle of incidence with the coast, they are responsible for complex circulation cells and rip currents in the surf zone, and when they travel obliquely, they generate a northward littoral drift. These features are more complicated than in the test cases, due to the complex bathymetry and the consideration of wind and non-stationary processes. Wave impacts in the inner shelf are less visible since wind and regional circulation seem to be the predominant forcings. Besides, a discrepancy between model and observations is noted at that scale, possibly linked to an underestimation of the wind stress. This three-dimensional method allows a good representation of vertical current profiles and permits the calculation of the shear stress associated with waves and currents. Future work will focus on the combination with a sediment transport model.

First results of a coupled modelling and forecasting system for fisheries on habitat-bound stocks are being presented. The system consists currently of three mathematically, fundamentally different model subsystems coupled offline: POLCOMS providing the physical environment implemented in the domain of the north-west European shelf, the SPAM model which describes sandeel stocks in the North Sea, and the third component, the SLAM model, which connects POLCOMS and SPAM by computing the physical–biological interaction. Our major experience by the coupling model subsystems is that well-defined and generic model interfaces are very important for a successful and extendable coupled model framework. The integrated approach, simulating ecosystem dynamics from physics to fish, allows for analysis of the pathways in the ecosystem to investigate the propagation of changes in the ocean climate and to quantify the impacts on the higher trophic level, in this case the sandeel population, demonstrated here on the basis of hindcast data. The coupled forecasting system is tested for some typical scientific questions appearing in spatial fish stock management and marine spatial planning, including determination of local and basin-scale maximum sustainable yield, stock connectivity and source/sink structure. Our presented simulations indicate that sandeel stocks are currently exploited close to the maximum sustainable yield, even though periodic overfishing seems to have occurred, but large uncertainty is associated with determining stock maximum sustainable yield due to stock inherent dynamics and climatic variability. Our statistical ensemble simulations indicates that the predictive horizon set by climate interannual variability is 2–6 yr, after which only an asymptotic probability distribution of stock properties, like biomass, are predictable.

Mesoscale variability in the central Rockall Trough, immediately west of the British Isles, has been investigated using a combination of ship-borne, underwater glider and gridded satellite altimeter measurements. Altimeter observations show that eddies and large-scale circulation cells are ubiquitous phenomena. They have horizontal length scales of order 100 km with vertical scales of over 1000 m and are associated with mean current speeds (over the upper 1000 m) of 15 ± 7 cm s−1. Monthly area averaged surface eddy kinetic energy (EKE) has substantial inter-annual variability, which at times can dominate a mean seasonal signal that varies from a maximum in May (74 cm2 s−2) to a minimum in October (52 cm2 s−2) and has increased gradually since 1992 at about 1.1 cm2 s−2 per year. This increase may be related to the retreat of the sub-polar gyre (SPG). A 5 month glider mission in the trough showed that the cyclonic component of EKE came from cold water features that are located over 1000 m below the surface. The surface currents from altimeters had similar magnitude to the drift currents averaged over 1000 m from the glider in the stratified autumn, but were half the deep water speed during late winter. Although the mesoscale features move in an apparent random manner, they seem to be constrained by submarine topography such as seamounts. Occasionally anti-cyclonic and cyclonic cells combine to cause a coherent westward deflection of the European slope current that warms the Rockall side of the trough. Such deflections contribute to the inter-annual variability in the observed temperature and salinity that are monitored in the upper 800 m of the trough. By combining glider and altimeter measurements it is shown that altimeter measurements fail to observe a 15 cm s−1 northward flowing slope current on the eastern side as well as a small persistent southward current on the western side. There is much to be gained from the synergy between satellite altimetry and in situ glider observations.