Interannual and Cross Shelf Variability in Sea Surface Temperature and Phytoplankton Scales in the East Sea

Abstract

The East Sea has dynamic environmental conditions in respect to its physical phenomena and biological characteristics, showing many characteristics of large ocean. Climate change and associated changes in physical oceanography impact the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems. They can also affect biological production, carbon budget, and fisheries resources in the East Sea. In addition, the mesoscale variability in the system may be as important as the chl-a biomass in determining the potential productivity of higher trophic levels.Time series of 10 years high-resolution sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a data measured from the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua are used to assess dominant time scales of variability using a wavelet analysis in the East Sea. Dominant periods of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a variances, and how these changes in time, are quantified. The interannual and decadal patterns of the sea surface temperature and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a in the East Sea are also compared with the large scale climate patterns such as the El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) data to investigate how the large scale climate changes link to the interannual and decadal phytoplankton variability in the regional oceans. Possible reasons of the decadal changes in the temporal and spatial distributions will be furtheructure and functioning of marine ecosystems. They can also affect biological production, carbon budget, and fisheries resources in the East Sea. In addition, the mesoscale variability in the system may be as important as the chl-a biomass in determining the potential productivity of higher trophic levels.Time series of 10 years high-resolution sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a data measured from the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua are used to assess dominant time scales of variability using a wavelet analysis in the East Sea. Dominant periods of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a variances, and how these changes in time, are quantified. The interannual and decadal patterns of the sea surface temperature and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a in the East Sea are also compared with the large scale climate patterns such as the El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) data to investigate how the large scale climate changes link to the interannual and decadal phytoplankton variability in the regional oceans. Possible reasons of the decadal changes in the temporal and spatial distributions will be furthe