Space and time variability of the surface color field in the northern Adriatic Sea

Abstract

A time series of coastal zone color scanner images for the years 1979 and 1980 was used to observe the spatial and temporal variability of bio‐optical processes and circulation patterns of the northern Adriatic Sea on monthly, seasonal, and interannual scales. The chlorophyll‐like pigment concentrations derived from satellite data exhibited a high correlation with sea truth measurements performed during seven surveys in the summer of both years. Comparison of the mean pigment fields indicates a general increase in concentration values and larger scales of coastal features from 1979 to 1980. This variability may be linked to the different patterns of nutrient influx due to coastal runoff in the 2 years. The distribution of surface features is consistent with the general cyclonic circulation pattern. The pigment heterogeneity appears to be governed by fluctuations of freshwater discharge, while the dominant wind fields do not appear to have important direct effects. The Po River presents a plume spreading predominantly in a southeastern direction, with scales positively correlated with its outflow. The spatial scales of the western coastal layer, in contrast, are negatively correlated with this outflow and the plume scales. Both results are consistent with, and may be rationalized by, recent theoretical and experimental results involving a dynamical balance between nonlinear advection and bottom friction, with alternate predominance of one of the two effects.

Adriatic Sea surface temperature and ocean colour variability during the MFSPP

“…Evidence of filaments coming off this current can be found, especially in winter north of Ancona and at the tip of the Gargano peninsula. These observations are in agreement with previous work in the Adriatic using CZCS data (Barale et al, 1986(Barale et al, , 1984.…”

“…Estimates based on the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) by Antoine et al (1995) confirm that the Adriatic Sea has the highest pigment biomass and primary production of all the Mediterranean sub-basins. Using CZCS data, Barale et al (1986) showed a direct correlation between the winter-spring pigment distributions in the northern Adriatic and the Po River freshwater discharge. Barale et al (1986) also noted that wintertime vertical mixing over the northern shelf could be important because of the co-occurrence of high pigment levels with meteorological conditions associated with dense water formation.…”

“…Using CZCS data, Barale et al (1986) showed a direct correlation between the winter-spring pigment distributions in the northern Adriatic and the Po River freshwater discharge. Barale et al (1986) also noted that wintertime vertical mixing over the northern shelf could be important because of the co-occurrence of high pigment levels with meteorological conditions associated with dense water formation. Using a few CZCS images, Barale et al (1984) examined the correspondence between large-scale circulation features in the Adriatic Sea and the spatial patterns in apparent temperature and attenuation coefficient maps.…”

Impact of estuarine fronts on the dispersal of piscivorous birds in the German Bight

“…the concentration of chlorophyll-like pigments of phytoplankton or, more likely in this case, total suspended matter concentration) in the mapping of surface waters (from 0 to 10 m depth, Barale et al 1992). The data were corrected for atmospheric interference using the algorithms of Gordon & Clark (1981), Gordon et al (1983) and Barale et al (1986) and they represent a mean of all monthly composites for the period, at a resolution of 1 × 1 km. We processed the data using WinChips 4.1b and Idrisi for Windows 2.0, and applied a 3 × 3 mode filter to the data in order to obtain a more general picture.…”

High-resolution satellite turbidity and sea surface temperature observations of river plume interactions during a significant flood event

“…1) is considerable, since they can contribute with lowsalinity patches that are relevant to mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics (Marini et al, 2008;Solidoro et al, 2009). These freshwater discharges and associated particulate and dissolved matter inputs have a significant effect, both on the physical and biogeochemical properties of the whole basin (Zavatarelli et al, 1998;Marini et al, 2008;Solidoro et al, 2009;Bignami et al, 2007;Barale et al, 1986;Tesi et al, 2011).…”