Dataset: Model results: 13-year means at 1 deg resolution; physical and biological variables in the Pacific and Atlantic equatorial surface layers, 2002 (U.S. JGOFS Synthesis & Modeling Phase project results)

Research topic: Physical-biological interactions in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic equatorial surface layers

The research proposed under this NSF-NASA Research Announcement will access the magnitude and spatial-temporal variability of primary production in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on seasonal and interannual time scales.  The effort will involve the analysis of satellite ocean color data and the development of 1-D and basin-scale coupled physical and biological models.  Particular emphasis will be placed on

1. evaluation of empirical satellite productivity algorithms in the tropics,
2. variability in the pigment and productivity fields,
3. the response of the equatorial ecosystem to physical forcing,
4. the feedbacks on physical fields, e.g. heat fluxes and circulation, that result from changes in the biological quantities, and
5. the improvements in simulation skill that can be achieved by assimilating biological data into both one-dimensional and basin-scale models.

The research will require data products from multiple ocean color missions, sea surface temperature, sea level from altimeter missions and tide guage stations, wind fields from operational meteorological centers and NSCAT, and a variety of in situ oceanographic and meteorological data, e.g. the JGOFS EqPAC and TOGA/TAO data sets.  The investigators form a multidisciplinary team with specialties in biological oceanography, physical oceanography, marine remote sensing and numerical modeling.