FAPESP - Satellite estimates of marine net community production in the South Atlantic from Sentinel-3.
Lead Research Organisation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Department Name: Remote Sensing Group
Abstract
Atmospheric CO2 has risen from 280 micro-atmospheres during preindustrial times to 370 micro-atmospheres today. This is predicted to double over the next 100 years if anthropogenic emissions of CO2 continue at their current rate. The microscopic marine algae (the phytoplankton), are able to fix CO2 through photosynthesis and can therefore reduce atmospheric CO2 by drawing it down into the ocean. Photosynthesis involves a series of enzymatic controlled reactions that start with capturing light energy and finish with fixing CO2 to build phytoplankton cells. Some of the fixed carbon is lost
through respiration. Marine bacteria, the microscopic animals known as the zooplankton and phytoplankton themselves during the night time respire. The extent to which phytoplankton photosynthesize and fix carbon and the bacteria-zoophytoplankton (or marine plankton) community respires carbon controls whether CO2 is drawn down from the atmosphere to the ocean or is released to the atmosphere from the ocean. The overall objective of this proposal is to improve our understanding of how the marine plankton community in the South Atlantic and the coast of Brazil potentially regulate the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Phytoplankton carbon fixation can be monitored from space using satellite sensors. A new satellite sensor, that has the capability to do this, will be launched by the European Space Agency in autumn 2015. We will use data from this new satellite to study this phenomena in collaboration with a Brazilian Research Institute. The results will benefit both UK and Brazilian research on climate change.
The RCUK-FAPESP Lead Agency Agreement is being applied by the applicants
through respiration. Marine bacteria, the microscopic animals known as the zooplankton and phytoplankton themselves during the night time respire. The extent to which phytoplankton photosynthesize and fix carbon and the bacteria-zoophytoplankton (or marine plankton) community respires carbon controls whether CO2 is drawn down from the atmosphere to the ocean or is released to the atmosphere from the ocean. The overall objective of this proposal is to improve our understanding of how the marine plankton community in the South Atlantic and the coast of Brazil potentially regulate the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Phytoplankton carbon fixation can be monitored from space using satellite sensors. A new satellite sensor, that has the capability to do this, will be launched by the European Space Agency in autumn 2015. We will use data from this new satellite to study this phenomena in collaboration with a Brazilian Research Institute. The results will benefit both UK and Brazilian research on climate change.
The RCUK-FAPESP Lead Agency Agreement is being applied by the applicants
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from this research?
The Atlantic Ocean is affected by climate change through changing circulation patterns and the variability and extent of water column mixing and stratification. These factors impact phytoplankton primary production and marine community respiration, which in turn affect the air-sea exchange of CO2 and the export and storage of carbon in the ocean. This proposal aims to initially deliver exploratory science between two research institutes who are recognized internationally as leaders in remote sensing and biogeochemistry and who will address these questions. The results will provide the foundation to build on a lasting impact that will enhance our understanding of the variability in sources and sinks of CO2 in the South Atlantic. This is of interest to government and non-governmental organizations and members of the public, internationally. This research will feed into the NERC mission on Managing Environmental Change through the use of new technology, the development of satellite products and the processing and synthesis of large data sets and to assess the role that phytoplankton play in mitigating climate change. This research will benefit the wider scientific community: Firstly the European Space Agency and the wider satellite oceanography community will benefit from the products that will be developed. The project will also benefit ecosystem
modelers working on prediction of marine biogeochemistry. The research has the potential to benefit projects such as Future Earth which aims to link studies on climate change with policy-makers so that rapid action can be implemented to mitigate the risks associated with a global rise in CO2. The project will also be of value to monitoring agencies involved in the monitoring and protection of marine ecosystems, and tasked with assessing the impact of climate change in maritime territories and the capacity for these regions to store CO2. The research will also be of benefit to the general public, who, through visits to aquaria, museums and public lectures and radio, television, newspaper and magazine articles have an interest in climate change and how it affects the marine environment.
How will they benefit from this research?
The project is of interest to government and non-governmental organizations and the general public as it will enhance our understanding of the role that play phytoplankton in mitigate climate change. These organizations will benefit from the proposed assessment of the South Atlantic Ocean and Brazilian coastal zone to absorb or release CO2. The academic impact of this research will be through collection of new data in a sparsely sampled region of the Atlantic Ocean and the development and validation of new satellite models. The Copernicus mission aims to will provide satellite data to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change. Since the proposed project addresses climate issues in the marine environment and will develop novel satellite products, the project is of direct relevance to the GMES mission. Monitoring agencies will also benefit from the satellite products that will be developed as they will enhance their capability of monitoring the carbon storage capacity of coastal and open ocean environments. The satellite images of net community production generated through this project will be invaluable to marine modelers to validate ecosystem models that predict future climate change scenarios. The images potentially also provide an ideal data grid for data assimilation for modelers involved in the dynamic response marine ecosystem structure to environmental variability. The research will impact society by providing evidence based research for policy on climate change. The project will aid IMBER's Memorandum of Understanding and will potentially feed into the IPCC.
The Atlantic Ocean is affected by climate change through changing circulation patterns and the variability and extent of water column mixing and stratification. These factors impact phytoplankton primary production and marine community respiration, which in turn affect the air-sea exchange of CO2 and the export and storage of carbon in the ocean. This proposal aims to initially deliver exploratory science between two research institutes who are recognized internationally as leaders in remote sensing and biogeochemistry and who will address these questions. The results will provide the foundation to build on a lasting impact that will enhance our understanding of the variability in sources and sinks of CO2 in the South Atlantic. This is of interest to government and non-governmental organizations and members of the public, internationally. This research will feed into the NERC mission on Managing Environmental Change through the use of new technology, the development of satellite products and the processing and synthesis of large data sets and to assess the role that phytoplankton play in mitigating climate change. This research will benefit the wider scientific community: Firstly the European Space Agency and the wider satellite oceanography community will benefit from the products that will be developed. The project will also benefit ecosystem
modelers working on prediction of marine biogeochemistry. The research has the potential to benefit projects such as Future Earth which aims to link studies on climate change with policy-makers so that rapid action can be implemented to mitigate the risks associated with a global rise in CO2. The project will also be of value to monitoring agencies involved in the monitoring and protection of marine ecosystems, and tasked with assessing the impact of climate change in maritime territories and the capacity for these regions to store CO2. The research will also be of benefit to the general public, who, through visits to aquaria, museums and public lectures and radio, television, newspaper and magazine articles have an interest in climate change and how it affects the marine environment.
How will they benefit from this research?
The project is of interest to government and non-governmental organizations and the general public as it will enhance our understanding of the role that play phytoplankton in mitigate climate change. These organizations will benefit from the proposed assessment of the South Atlantic Ocean and Brazilian coastal zone to absorb or release CO2. The academic impact of this research will be through collection of new data in a sparsely sampled region of the Atlantic Ocean and the development and validation of new satellite models. The Copernicus mission aims to will provide satellite data to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change. Since the proposed project addresses climate issues in the marine environment and will develop novel satellite products, the project is of direct relevance to the GMES mission. Monitoring agencies will also benefit from the satellite products that will be developed as they will enhance their capability of monitoring the carbon storage capacity of coastal and open ocean environments. The satellite images of net community production generated through this project will be invaluable to marine modelers to validate ecosystem models that predict future climate change scenarios. The images potentially also provide an ideal data grid for data assimilation for modelers involved in the dynamic response marine ecosystem structure to environmental variability. The research will impact society by providing evidence based research for policy on climate change. The project will aid IMBER's Memorandum of Understanding and will potentially feed into the IPCC.
Publications
Ford D
(2023)
Mesoscale Eddies Enhance the Air-Sea CO 2 Sink in the South Atlantic Ocean
in Geophysical Research Letters
Serret P
(2023)
Respiration, phytoplankton size and the metabolic balance in the Atlantic gyres
in Frontiers in Marine Science
Ford D
(2021)
Wind speed and mesoscale features drive net autotrophy in the South Atlantic Ocean
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Description | • An ocean colour satellite model was developed for the South Atlantic. • The satellite model is based on a power law between net community production, Primary Production and Sea Surface Temperature. • A ~20 year satellite time series was constructed using this model which showed that the South Atlantic is CO2 source during boreal spring and summer and a CO2 sink during boreal autumn and winter. • Variations in Net Community Production in south Atlantic were anti-correlated with the Multiple ENSO Index. |
Exploitation Route | The impact of this work is to demonstrate when and where and under what the conditions the South Atlantic and Brazil coast is acting as a CO2 sink or source to the atmosphere. This enhances our understanding of the role of the South Atlantic in climate change feedback and highlights the area as an essential ecosystem service in regulating climate change. |
Sectors | Environment |
Description | The impact of this work is to demonstrate when and where and under what the conditions the South Atlantic and Brazil coast is acting as a CO2 sink or source to the atmosphere. This enhances our understanding of the role of the South Atlantic in climate change feedback and highlights the area as an essential ecosystem service in regulating climate change. The Accuracy of satellite Chlorophyll-a, Net Primary Production and Net Community Production was assessed in the South Atlantic Ocean. A 16 year time series of satellite based Net Community Production was produced. Using the satellite time series, it was found that Wind speed and mesoscale processes control regional Net Community Production. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Sector | Environment |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | Contributed to FW2 OSPAR candidate indicator for primary production. |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
Description | Development of new Essential Climate Variable products from Earth Ocean data. |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
Impact | Enhanced ability to monitor changes in the ocean and ocean health |
URL | https://amt4co2flux.org/ |
Description | Processing and validating satellite-derived ocean colour products to monitor for water quality to inform industry and deliver policy directives. |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
Description | Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from Satellite Campaign (AMT4OceanSatFlux) |
Amount | € 450,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 11/2019 |
End | 04/2021 |
Description | Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from Satellite Campaign (AMT4OceanSatFlux) |
Amount | € 300,533 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 11/2018 |
End | 04/2020 |
Description | Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from Satellite Campaign (AMT4OceanSatFlux), Phase 3 |
Amount | € 300,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 4000125730/18/NL/FF/gp |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 12/2022 |
Description | Atlantic Meridional Transect for CO2 Flux |
Amount | € 300,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 4000136286/21/NL/FF/ab |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 11/2021 |
End | 01/2024 |
Description | Development of OSPAR satellite phytoplankton production as an ecological indicator (HBDSEG), |
Amount | £27,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2018 |
End | 03/2019 |
Title | In situ database of optical measurements from Atlantic Meridional Transect |
Description | In situ database of optical measurements from Atlantic Meridional Transect submitted to the European Space Agency. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | AMT4OceanSatFlux data has been used by EUMETSAT, European Space Agency Sentinel-5P Ocean Colour project TROPOMI. |
Title | Valente et al. incl. Tilstone. A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications - version three. PANGAEA |
Description | global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | A global compilation of in situ data is vital to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here, we describe data compiled for the validation of ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The data were acquired from several sources (including, inter alia, MOBY, BOUSSOLE, AERONET-OC, SeaBASS, NOMAD, MERMAID, AMT, ICES, HOT, GeP&CO) and span the period from 1997 to 2021. Observations of the following variables were compiled: spectral remote-sensing reflectance, concentration of chlorophyll-a, spectral inherent optical properties, spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient and total suspended matter. The data were obtained from multi-project archives acquired via open internet services, or from individual projects, acquired directly from data providers. Methodologies were implemented for homogenisation, quality control and merging of all data. |
URL | https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.941318 |
Description | Participation in the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Sentinel-3 Validation Team. |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Country | France |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Above-water radiometric data and in-water spectrophotometric data were collected on four AMT field campaigns in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to assess the performance of the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) aboard Sentinel-3A and 3B. An uncertainty analysis was conducted on the radiometer data and was used as part of the match-up procedure between the in situ and satellite data. A comprehensive assessment of the performance of both remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) and chlorophyll-a (Chl a) was then carried out. |
Collaborator Contribution | Validation of Sentinel-3A and 3B Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) in other Atlantic Ocean and global waters. |
Impact | Valente et al. incl. Tilstone. A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications - version three. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.941318 |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Participation in the Sentinel-3 OLCI / SYN Quality Working Group. |
Organisation | European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Invitation to present results on the performance of both remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) and chlorophyll-a (Chl a) of Sentinel-3A and 3B Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) in the Atlantic Ocean at Sentinel-3 OLCI / SYN Quality Working Group meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | Establishment and organisation of the OLCI Sentinel-3 Quality Working Group. |
Impact | Valente et al. incl. Tilstone. A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications - version three. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.941318 |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | AMT4CO2Flux website and outreach |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | AMT4CO2Flux website created and 4 web stories were written for the AMT4CO2Flux campaign and were show cased on the European Space Agency Campaign Earth blog (http://blogs.esa.int/campaignearth/) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
URL | https://amt4oceansatflux.org |
Description | Accuracy assessment of OLCI, MODIS-Aqua, & VIIRS radiometric products |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk at EUMETSAT conference, Tallinn, Estonia. September 2018. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Accuracy assessment of Sentinel-3A OLCI, MODIS-Aqua, & VIIRS ocean colour products in the Atlantic Ocean |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | To at the Challenger, UK meeting. Newcastle University, 10-13 September 2018 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Copernicus Calibration and Validation Solutions workshop (virtual), 13-15 October 2021; Presentation: Tilstone et a. Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from satellite validation campaigns. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation at the Copernicus Calibration and Validation Solutions workshop (virtual), 13-15 October 2021; Tilstone et a. Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from satellite validation campaigns. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://ccvs.eu/ |
Description | European Space Agency Ocean Science Cluster meeting (virtual), 29 Nov-02 Dec 2021. Presentation: Tilstone et a. AMT4OceanSatFlux. Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from satellite validation campaigns. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation of research outputs at the European Space Agency Ocean Science Cluster meeting (virtual), 29 Nov-02 Dec 2021. Presentation: Tilstone et a. AMT4OceanSatFlux. Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from satellite validation campaigns. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://eo4society.esa.int/communities/scientists/esa-ocean-science-cluster/ |
Description | NERC-FAPESP SemSAS Workshop on Net community and primary production techniques from in situ measurements and remote sensing algorithms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | NERC-FAPESP SemSAS Workshop on Net community and primary production techniques from in situ measurements and remote sensing algorithms, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 18-30 April 2018. 13 lectures; 6 practical lessons. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | SemSAS Final Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SemSAS Final Workshop PML, 26-30 Nov 2018 attended by Brazilian and UK scientists. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |