Bio-Optical Measurements at Ocean Boundaries in Support of SIMBIOS

The equatorial Pacific is a major component of global biogeochemical cycles, due to upwelling that occurs from the coast of South America to beyond 180 deg. This upwelling has significant implications for global CO2 fluxes, as well as primary and secondary production. In addition, this region of the world's oceans represents a large oceanic province over which validation data for Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) are necessary. This project consists of a mooring program and supporting cruise-based measurements aimed at quantifying the spectrum of biological and chemical variability in the equatorial Pacific and obtaining validation data for SeaWiFS. The project has the following general objectives: (1) to understand the relationships between physical forcing, primary production, nutrient supply and the exchange of carbon dioxide between ocean and atmosphere in the equatorial Pacific; (2) to describe the biological and chemical responses to climate and ocean variability; (3) to describe the spatial, seasonal and inter-annual variability in near surface plant pigments, primary production, carbon dioxide and nutrient distributions; and (4) to obtain near real-time bio-optical measurements for validation of SeaWiFS and subsequent ocean color sensors.