Contextualizing time-series data: Quantification of short-term
regional variability in the San Pedro Channel using high-resolution
in situ glider data
Abstract. Oceanic time-series have been instrumental in providing an understanding of biological, physical, and chemical dynamics in the oceans and how these processes change over time. However, the extrapolation of these results to larger oceanographic regions requires an understanding and characterization of local versus regional drivers of variability. Here we use high-frequency spatial and temporal glider data to quantify variability at the coastal San Pedro Ocean Time-series (SPOT) site in the San Pedro Channel (SPC) and provide insight into the underlying oceanographic dynamics for the site. The dataset was dominated by four water column profile types: active upwelling, offshore influence, subsurface chlorophyll maximum, and surface bloom. On average, waters across the SPC were most similar to offshore profiles. On weekly timescales, the SPOT station was on average representative of 64 % of profiles taken within the SPC, and SPOT was least similar to SPC locations that were closest to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Subsurface chlorophyll maxima with co-located chlorophyll and particle maxima were common in 2013 and 2014 suggesting that these subsurface chlorophyll maxima might contribute significantly to the local primary production. These results indicate that high-resolution in situ glider deployments can be used to determine the spatial domain of time-series data, allowing for broader application of these datasets and greater integration into modeling efforts.