scholarly journals Remote Sensing Supported Sea Surface pCO2 Estimation and Variable Analysis in the Baltic Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 259
Author(s):  
Shuping Zhang ◽  
Anna Rutgersson ◽  
Petra Philipson ◽  
Marcus B. Wallin

Marginal seas are a dynamic and still to large extent uncertain component of the global carbon cycle. The large temporal and spatial variations of sea-surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in these areas are driven by multiple complex mechanisms. In this study, we analyzed the variable importance for the sea surface pCO2 estimation in the Baltic Sea and derived monthly pCO2 maps for the marginal sea during the period of July 2002–October 2011. We used variables obtained from remote sensing images and numerical models. The random forest algorithm was employed to construct regression models for pCO2 estimation and produce the importance of different input variables. The study found that photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) was the most important variable for the pCO2 estimation across the entire Baltic Sea, followed by sea surface temperature (SST), absorption of colored dissolved organic matter (aCDOM), and mixed layer depth (MLD). Interestingly, Chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) and the diffuse attenuation coefficient for downwelling irradiance at 490 nm (Kd_490nm) showed relatively low importance for the pCO2 estimation. This was mainly attributed to the high correlation of Chl-a and Kd_490nm to other pCO2-relevant variables (e.g., aCDOM), particularly in the summer months. In addition, the variables’ importance for pCO2 estimation varied between seasons and sub-basins. For example, the importance of aCDOM were large in the Gulf of Finland but marginal in other sub-basins. The model for pCO2 estimate in the entire Baltic Sea explained 63% of the variation and had a root of mean squared error (RMSE) of 47.8 µatm. The pCO2 maps derived with this model displayed realistic seasonal variations and spatial features of sea surface pCO2 in the Baltic Sea. The spatially and seasonally varying variables’ importance for the pCO2 estimation shed light on the heterogeneities in the biogeochemical and physical processes driving the carbon cycling in the Baltic Sea and can serve as an important basis for future pCO2 estimation in marginal seas using remote sensing techniques. The pCO2 maps derived in this study provided a robust benchmark for understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of CO2 air-sea exchange in the Baltic Sea.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Gonzalez-Gambau ◽  
Estrella Olmedo ◽  
Cristina Gonzalez-Haro ◽  
Antono Turiel ◽  
Justino Martinez ◽  
...  

<p>Accurate satellite-based sea surface salinity (SSS) fields would address some gaps of knowledge and benefit the understanding of Baltic Sea salinity dynamics.  In particular, these fields can contribute to the monitoring of long-term salinity changes and to the detection of periods with anomalous salinity. These products can also be very useful as initial fields and validation data for improving the existing numerical models.</p><p><br>The Baltic Sea is one of the most challenging regions for the retrieval of SSS from L-band satellite measurements. Nowadays, available EO-based SSS products are quite limited over this region both in terms of spatio-temporal coverage and quality. This is mainly due to several technical limitations that strongly affect the SMOS TB particularly over semi-enclosed seas, such as the high contamination by Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) sources and the contamination close to land and ice edges. Besides, the sensitivity of TB to SSS changes is very low in cold waters and much larger errors are expected compared to temperate oceans. Salinity and temperature values are very low in this basin, which implies that dielectric constant models are not fully tested in such conditions. In the recent years, the Barcelona Expert Center team has been working on the development of innovative algorithms for improving the quality of SMOS TB and SSS retrievals dealing with the main processing issues. </p><p><br>In the context of the ESA Baltic+ Salinity Dynamics project (https://balticsalinity.argans.co.uk/), these methodologies have been adapted and consolidated towards the generation of the first  regional SMOS SSS product (2011-2020) that would suit to the needs of the Baltic research community. Very recently, the first version of the Baltic+ SSS product has been produced (3-year series) and is currently under validation against in-situ measurements. The quality assessment of the SSS product in the Baltic Sea is also an issue and its representativeness must be carefully assessed. The basin is strongly stratified and then, the differences between SMOS measurements (first centimeters) and in-situ observations (few meters depth) can be noticeable. Differences are more probable during ice melting and high runoff events in spring where there might be a freshwater layer at the top shallow surface. Feedback from the users will help identifying the limitations of the product. Additional technical developments will be addressed to meet the requirements of the communities working in the study of Baltic processes. </p><p><br>We will present at the conference the Baltic+ SSS v1 product and its added-value with respect to other existing EO-based datasets. The potential scientific impact of this satellite SSS product in advancing on-going regional research initiatives like the Baltic Earth Working Group on Salinity dynamics will be discussed.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 4889-4917
Author(s):  
Jens Daniel Müller ◽  
Bernd Schneider ◽  
Ulf Gräwe ◽  
Peer Fietzek ◽  
Marcus Bo Wallin ◽  
...  

Abstract. Organic matter production by cyanobacteria blooms is a major environmental concern for the Baltic Sea, as it promotes the spread of anoxic zones. Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) measurements carried out on Ships of Opportunity (SOOP) since 2003 have proven to be a powerful tool to resolve the carbon dynamics of the blooms in space and time. However, SOOP measurements lack the possibility to directly constrain depth-integrated net community production (NCP) in moles of carbon per surface area due to their restriction to the sea surface. This study tackles the knowledge gap through (1) providing an NCP best guess for an individual cyanobacteria bloom based on repeated profiling measurements of pCO2 and (2) establishing an algorithm to accurately reconstruct depth-integrated NCP from surface pCO2 observations in combination with modelled temperature profiles. Goal (1) was achieved by deploying state-of-the-art sensor technology from a small-scale sailing vessel. The low-cost and flexible platform enabled observations covering an entire bloom event that occurred in July–August 2018 in the Eastern Gotland Sea. For the biogeochemical interpretation, recorded pCO2 profiles were converted to CT*, which is the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration normalised to alkalinity. We found that the investigated bloom event was dominated by Nodularia and had many biogeochemical characteristics in common with blooms in previous years. In particular, it lasted for about 3 weeks, caused a CT* drawdown of 90 µmol kg−1, and was accompanied by a sea surface temperature increase of 10 ∘C. The novel finding of this study is the vertical extension of the CT* drawdown up to the compensation depth located at around 12 m. Integration of the CT* drawdown across this depth and correction for vertical fluxes leads to an NCP best guess of ∼1.2 mol m−2 over the productive period. Addressing goal (2), we combined modelled hydrographical profiles with surface pCO2 observations recorded by SOOP Finnmaid within the study area. Introducing the temperature penetration depth (TPD) as a new parameter to integrate SOOP observations across depth, we achieve an NCP reconstruction that agrees to the best guess within 10 %, which is considerably better than the reconstruction based on a classical mixed-layer depth constraint. Applying the TPD approach to almost 2 decades of surface pCO2 observations available for the Baltic Sea bears the potential to provide new insights into the control and long-term trends of cyanobacteria NCP. This understanding is key for an effective design and monitoring of conservation measures aiming at a Good Environmental Status of the Baltic Sea.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica González-Gambau ◽  
Estrella Olmedo ◽  
Antonio Turiel ◽  
Cristina González-Haro ◽  
Aina García-Espriu ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper presents the first Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) dedicated products over the Baltic Sea. The SSS retrieval from L-band brightess temperature (TB) measurements over this basin is really challenging due to important technical issues, such as the land-sea and ice-sea contamination, the high contamination by Radio-Frequency Interferences (RFI) sources, the low sensitivity of L-band TB at SSS changes in cold waters and the poor characterization of dielectric constant models for the low SSS and SST ranges in the basin. For these reasons, exploratory research in the algorithms used from the level 0 up to level 4 has been required to develop these dedicated products. This work has been performed in the framework of the European Space Agency regional initiative Baltic+ Salinity Dynamics. Two Baltic+ SSS products have been generated for the period 2011–2019 and are freely distributed: the Level 3 (L3) product (daily generated 9-day maps in a 0.25° grid, https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13859) (González-Gambau et al., 2021a) and the Level 4 (L4) product (daily maps in a 0.05° grid, https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13860) (González-Gambau et al., 2021b)), that are computed by applying multifractal fusion to L3 SSS with Sea Surface Temperature (SST) maps. The accuracy of L3 SSS products is typically around 0.7–0.8 psu. The L4 product has an improved spatio-temporal resolution with respect to the L3 and the accuracy is typically around 0.4 psu. Regions with the highest errors and limited coverage are located in Arkona and Bornholm basins and Gulfs of Finland and Riga. The impact assessment of Baltic+ SSS products has shown that they can help in the understanding of salinity dynamics in the basin. They complement the temporally and spatially very sparse in situ measurements, covering data gaps in the region and they can also be useful for the validation of numerical models, particularly in areas where in situ data are very sparse.


Baltica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Kotrys ◽  
Michał Tomczak ◽  
Andrzej Witkowski ◽  
Jan Harff ◽  
Jan Seidler

A new diatom-based sea surface salinity (SSS) estimation has been applied to a collection of 27 taxa in 48 present-day sediment and surface water samples recovered in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat. The sediment core 303610-12 (2005) from the Eastern Gotland was chosen for study of Holocene sequence, ranging the last 8160 yrs BP. The Artificial Neuronal Network (ANN) method allows the estimation of spring SSS (March-April) values ranging between 7.04 ‰ and 8.25 ‰ at an averaged Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 0.49 ‰. The rather low amplitude of salinity change might be caused by mixing of fresh water with upper surface layer of the Baltic Sea due to high precipitation and riverine input. The estimates of spring SSS from core 303610-12 were compared with independent geochemical proxies for salinity (K, Ti and S) derived from XRF Core Scanner record. Conspicuous correlation between salinity and sulphur records and reverse-correlation to K and Ti demonstrates that the ANN method combined with quantitative and qualitative analyses of diatoms provides a useful tool for palaeosalinity reconstructions in the Holocene sediments of the Baltic Sea


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Gavin H. Tilstone ◽  
Silvia Pardo ◽  
Stefan G. H. Simis ◽  
Ping Qin ◽  
Nick Selmes ◽  
...  

Ocean colour (OC) remote sensing is an important tool for monitoring phytoplankton in the global ocean. In optically complex waters such as the Baltic Sea, relatively efficient light absorption by substances other than phytoplankton increases product uncertainty. Sentinel-3 OLCI-A, Suomi-NPP VIIRS and MODIS-Aqua OC radiometric products were assessed using Baltic Sea in situ remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) from ferry tracks (Alg@line) and at two Aerosol Robotic Network for Ocean Colour (AERONET-OC) sites from April 2016 to September 2018. A range of atmospheric correction (AC) processors for OLCI-A were evaluated. POLYMER performed best with <23 relative % difference at 443, 490 and 560 nm compared to in situ Rrs and 28% at 665 nm, suggesting that using this AC for deriving Chl a will be the most accurate. Suomi-VIIRS and MODIS-Aqua underestimated Rrs by 35, 29, 22 and 39% and 34, 22, 17 and 33% at 442, 486, 560 and 671 nm, respectively. The consistency between different AC processors for OLCI-A and MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS products was relatively poor. Applying the POLYMER AC to OLCI-A, MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS may produce the most accurate Rrs and Chl a products and OC time series for the Baltic Sea.


Author(s):  
Valeriy I. Agoshkov ◽  
Eugene I. Parmuzin ◽  
Vladimir B. Zalesny ◽  
Victor P. Shutyaev ◽  
Natalia B. Zakharova ◽  
...  

AbstractA mathematical model of the dynamics of the Baltic Sea is considered. A problem of variational assimilation of sea surface temperature (SST) data is formulated and studied. Based on variational assimilation of satellite observation data, an algorithm solving the inverse problem of heat flux restoration on the interface of two media is proposed. The results of numerical experiments reconstructing the heat flux functions in the problem of variational assimilation of SST observation data are presented. The influence of SST assimilation on other hydrodynamic parameters of the model is considered.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1009-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mati Kahru ◽  
Ragnar Elmgren ◽  
Oleg P. Savchuk

Abstract. Changes in the phenology of physical and ecological variables associated with climate change are likely to have significant effect on many aspects of the Baltic ecosystem. We apply a set of phenological indicators to multiple environmental variables measured by satellite sensors for 17–36 years to detect possible changes in the seasonality in the Baltic Sea environment. We detect significant temporal changes, such as earlier start of the summer season and prolongation of the productive season, in several variables ranging from basic physical drivers to ecological status indicators. While increasing trends in the absolute values of variables like sea-surface temperature (SST), diffuse attenuation of light (Ked490) and satellite-detected chlorophyll concentration (CHL) are detectable, the corresponding changes in their seasonal cycles are more dramatic. For example, the cumulative sum of 30 000 W m−2 of surface incoming shortwave irradiance (SIS) was reached 23 days earlier in 2014 compared to the beginning of the time series in 1983. The period of the year with SST of at least 17 °C has almost doubled (from 29 days in 1982 to 56 days in 2014), and the period with Ked490 over 0.4 m−1 has increased from about 60 days in 1998 to 240 days in 2013 – i.e., quadrupled. The period with satellite-estimated CHL of at least 3 mg m−3 has doubled from approximately 110 days in 1998 to 220 days in 2013. While the timing of both the phytoplankton spring and summer blooms have advanced, the annual CHL maximum that in the 1980s corresponded to the spring diatom bloom in May has now shifted to the summer cyanobacteria bloom in July.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 4595-4613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison L. Webb ◽  
Emma Leedham-Elvidge ◽  
Claire Hughes ◽  
Frances E. Hopkins ◽  
Gill Malin ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Baltic Sea is a unique environment as the largest body of brackish water in the world. Acidification of the surface oceans due to absorption of anthropogenic CO2 emissions is an additional stressor facing the pelagic community of the already challenging Baltic Sea. To investigate its impact on trace gas biogeochemistry, a large-scale mesocosm experiment was performed off Tvärminne Research Station, Finland, in summer 2012. During the second half of the experiment, dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations in the highest-fCO2 mesocosms (1075–1333 µatm) were 34 % lower than at ambient CO2 (350 µatm). However, the net production (as measured by concentration change) of seven halocarbons analysed was not significantly affected by even the highest CO2 levels after 5 weeks' exposure. Methyl iodide (CH3I) and diiodomethane (CH2I2) showed 15 and 57 % increases in mean mesocosm concentration (3.8 ± 0.6 increasing to 4.3 ± 0.4 pmol L−1 and 87.4 ± 14.9 increasing to 134.4 ± 24.1 pmol L−1 respectively) during Phase II of the experiment, which were unrelated to CO2 and corresponded to 30 % lower Chl a concentrations compared to Phase I. No other iodocarbons increased or showed a peak, with mean chloroiodomethane (CH2ClI) concentrations measured at 5.3 (±0.9) pmol L−1 and iodoethane (C2H5I) at 0.5 (±0.1) pmol L−1. Of the concentrations of bromoform (CHBr3; mean 88.1 ± 13.2 pmol L−1), dibromomethane (CH2Br2; mean 5.3 ± 0.8 pmol L−1), and dibromochloromethane (CHBr2Cl, mean 3.0 ± 0.5 pmol L−1), only CH2Br2 showed a decrease of 17 % between Phases I and II, with CHBr3 and CHBr2Cl showing similar mean concentrations in both phases. Outside the mesocosms, an upwelling event was responsible for bringing colder, high-CO2, low-pH water to the surface starting on day t16 of the experiment; this variable CO2 system with frequent upwelling events implies that the community of the Baltic Sea is acclimated to regular significant declines in pH caused by up to 800 µatm fCO2. After this upwelling, DMS concentrations declined, but halocarbon concentrations remained similar or increased compared to measurements prior to the change in conditions. Based on our findings, with future acidification of Baltic Sea waters, biogenic halocarbon emissions are likely to remain at similar values to today; however, emissions of biogenic sulfur could significantly decrease in this region.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Kärnä ◽  
Ida Ringgaard ◽  
Vasily Korabel ◽  
Adam Nord ◽  
Patrik Ljungemyr ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;We present Nemo-Nordic 2.0, the latest version of the operational marine forecasting model for the Baltic Sea used and developed in the Baltic Monitoring Forecasting Centre (BAL MFC) under the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). The most notable differences between Nemo-Nordic 2.0 and its predecessor Nemo-Nordic 1.0 are the switch from NEMO 3.6 to NEMO 4.0 and an increase in horizontal resolution from 2 to 1 nautical mile. In addition, the model's bathymetry and bottom friction formulation have been updated. The model configuration was specially tuned to represent Major Baltic Inflow events. Focusing on a 2-year validation period from October 1, 2014, covering one Major Baltic Inflow event, Nemo-Nordic 2.0 simulates Sea Surface Height (SSH) well: centralized Root-Mean-Square Deviation (CRMSD) is within 10 cm for most stations outside the Inner Danish Waters. CRMSD is higher at some stations where small-scale topographical features cannot be correctly resolved. SSH variability tends to be overestimated in the Baltic Sea and underestimated in the Inner Danish Waters. Nemo-Nordic 2.0 represents Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Salinity (SSS) well, although there is a negative bias around -0.5&amp;#176;C in SST. The 2014 Major Baltic Inflow event is well reproduced. The simulated salt pulse agrees well with observations in the Arkona basin and progresses into the Gotland basin in 3 to 4 months.&lt;/p&gt;


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