Ocean Front Detection with Glider and Satellite-Derived SST Data in the Southern California Current System

This study proposes a method to detect ocean fronts from in situ temperature and density glider measurements. This method is applied to data collected along the CalCOFI Line 90, south of the California Current System (CCS), over the 2006–2013 period. It is based on image-processing techniques commonly applied to sea surface temperature (SST) satellite data. Front detection results using glider data are consistent with those obtained in other studies carried out in the CCS. SST images of the Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) dataset were also used to compare the probability of occurrence or front frequency (FF) obtained with the two datasets. Glider and MUR temperatures are highly correlated. Along Line 90, frontal frequency exhibited the same maxima near the transition zone (~130 km offshore) as derived from MUR and glider datasets. However, marked differences were found in the bimonthly FF probability with high (low) front frequency in spring-summer for glider (MUR) data. Methodological differences explaining these contrasting results are investigated. Thermohaline-compensated fronts are more abundant towards the oceanic zone, although most fronts are detected using both temperature and density criteria, indicating a significant contribution of temperature to density in this region.

Across-shore Propagation of Subthermocline Eddies in the California Current System

Though subthermocline eddies (STEs) have often been observed in the world oceans, characteristics of STEs such as their patterns of generation and propagation are less understood. Here, the across-shore propagation of STEs in the California Current System (CCS) is observed and described using 13 years of sustained coastal glider measurements on three glider transect lines off central and southern California as part of the California Underwater Glider Network (CUGN). The across-shore propagation speed of anticyclonic STEs is estimated as 1.35-1.49 ± 0.33 cm s−1 over the three transects, Line 66.7, Line 80.0, and Line 90.0, close to the westward long first baroclinic Rossby wave speed in the region. Anticyclonic STEs are found with high salinity, high temperature, and low dissolved oxygen anomalies in their cores, consistent with transporting California Undercurrent water from the coast to offshore. Comparisons to satellite sea-level anomaly indicate that STEs are only weakly correlated to a sea surface height expression. The observations suggest that STEs are important for the salt balance and mixing of water masses across-shore in the CCS.

Formulation and demonstration of an extended-3DVAR multi-scale data assimilation system for the SWOT altimetry era

A state-of-the-art data assimilation system for a high-resolution model has been developed to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. A new ‘extended’ three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (extended-3DVAR) is formulated to assimilate observations over a time interval, and integrated using a multi-scale approach (hereafter MSDA). The new MSDA scheme specifically enhances the efficacy of the assimilation of satellite along-track altimetry observations, which are limited by large repeat time intervals. This developed system is computationally highly efficient, and thus can be applied to a very high-resolution model. A crucial consideration of the system is first to assimilate routinely available observations, including satellite altimetry, sea surface temperature (SST) and temperature/salinity vertical profiles, to constrain large scales and large mesoscales. High-resolution (dense) observations and future SWOT measurements can then be effectively and seamlessly assimilated to constrain the smaller scales. Using this system, a reanalysis dataset was produced for the SWOT pre-launch field campaign that took place in the California Current System from September through December, 2019. An evaluation of this system with assimilated and withheld data demonstrates its ability to effectively utilize both routine and campaign observations. These results suggest a promising avenue for data assimilation development in the SWOT altimetry era, which will require the capability to efficiently assimilate large-volume datasets resolving small-scale ocean processes.

A monthly surface pCO₂ product for the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

To calculate the direction and rate of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) exchange between the ocean and atmosphere, it is critical to know the partial pressure of CO2 in surface seawater (pCO2(sw)). Over the last decade, a variety of data products of global monthly pCO2(sw) have been produced, primarily for the open ocean on 1° latitude by 1° longitude grids. More recently, monthly products of pCO2(sw) that are more finely spatially resolved in the coastal ocean have been made available. A remaining challenge in the development of pCO2(sw) products is the robust characterization of seasonal variability, especially in nearshore coastal environments. Here we present a monthly data product of pCO2(sw) at 0.25° latitude by 0.25° longitude resolution in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, centered around the California Current System (CCS). The data product (RFR-CCS; Sharp et al., 2021; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5523389) was created using the most recent (2021) version of the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (Bakker et al., 2016) from which pCO2(sw) observations were extracted and fit against a variety of satellite- and model-derived surface variables using a random forest regression (RFR) model. We validate RFR-CCS in multiple ways, including direct comparisons with observations from moored autonomous surface platforms, and find that the data product effectively captures seasonal pCO2(sw) cycles at nearshore mooring sites. This result is notable because alternative global products for the coastal ocean do not capture local variability effectively in this region. We briefly review the physical and biological processes — acting across a variety of spatial and temporal scales — that are responsible for the latitudinal and nearshore-to-offshore pCO2(sw) gradients seen in RFR-CCS reconstructions of pCO2(sw).

Population ecology of seabirds in Mexican Islands at the California Current System

The Baja California Pacific Islands (BCPI) is a seabird hotspot in the southern California Current System supporting 129 seabird breeding populations of 23 species and over one million birds annually. These islands had a history of environmental degradation because of invasive alien species, human disturbance, and contaminants that caused the extirpation of 27 seabird populations. Most of the invasive mammals have been eradicated and breeding colonies have been restored with social attraction techniques. We have systematic information for most of the breeding populations since 2008. To assess population trends, we analyzed data and present results for 19 seabird species on ten island groups. The maximum number of breeding pairs for each nesting season was used to estimate the population growth rate (λ) for each species at every island colony. We performed a nonparametric bootstrapping to assess whether seabird breeding populations are increasing or decreasing. San Benito, Natividad, and San Jerónimo are the top three islands in terms of abundance of breeding pairs. The most widespread species is Cassin’s Auklet with 14 colonies. Twenty-three populations of 13 species are significantly increasing while eight populations of six species are decreasing. We did not find statistical significance for 30 populations, however, 20 have λ>1 which suggest they are growing. Seven of the 18 species for which we estimated a regional population trend are significantly increasing, including three surface-nesting species: Brown Pelican, Elegant Tern and Laysan Albatross, and four burrow-nesting species: Ainley’s and Ashy Storm-Petrels, and Craveri’s and Guadalupe Murrelet. Our results suggest that the BCPI support healthy and growing populations of seabirds that have shown to be resilient to extreme environmental conditions such as the “Blob”, and that such resilience has been strengthen from conservation and restoration actions such as the eradication of invasive mammals and social attraction techniques.

Holocene climate and oceanography of the coastal Western United States and California Current System

To understand and contextualize modern climate change, we must improve our understanding of climatic and oceanographic changes in the Holocene (11.75 ka–present). Climate records of the Holocene can be utilized as a “baseline” from which to compare modern climate and can also provide insights into how environments and ecosystems experience and recover from environmental change. However, individual studies on Holocene climate in the literature tend to focus on a distinct geographic location, a specific proxy record, or a certain aspect of climate (e.g., upwelling or precipitation), resulting in localized, record-specific trends rather than a comprehensive view of climate variability through the Holocene. Here we synthesize the major oceanographic and terrestrial changes that have occurred in the Western United States (bounded by 30° N to 52° N and 115° W to 130° W) through the most recent 11.75 ka and explore the impacts of these changes on marine and terrestrial ecosystems and human populations. This three-tiered systematic review combines interpretations from over 100 published studies, codes and geospatially analyzes temperature, hydroclimate, and fire history from over 50 published studies, and interprets nine representative time series through the Holocene. We find that the early Holocene is characterized by warming relative to pre-Holocene conditions, including warm sea surface conditions, a warm and dry Pacific Northwest, a warm and wet Southwest, and overall spatial and temporal stability. In the mid Holocene, these patterns reverse; this interval is characterized by cool sea surface temperatures, a cool and wet Pacific Northwest and warm and dry Southwest. The late Holocene is the most variable interval, both spatially and temporally, and a novel spatial trend appears in terrestrial climate with warmer coastal areas and cooler inland areas. Human communities interacted with the environment throughout the entire Holocene, as evidenced in archeological and paleoenvironmental records, yet the recent era of colonization (1850–present) represents an unprecedented environmental interval in many records. Overall, our analysis shows linkages between terrestrial and oceanographic conditions, distinct environmental phases through time, and emphasizes the importance of local factors in controlling climate through the dynamic Holocene.

UCYN-A/haptophyte symbioses dominate N2 fixation in the Southern California Current System

The availability of fixed nitrogen (N) is an important factor limiting biological productivity in the oceans. In coastal waters, high dissolved inorganic N concentrations were historically thought to inhibit dinitrogen (N2) fixation, however, recent N2 fixation measurements and the presence of the N2-fixing UCYN-A/haptophyte symbiosis in nearshore waters challenge this paradigm. We characterized the contribution of UCYN-A symbioses to nearshore N2 fixation in the Southern California Current System (SCCS) by measuring bulk community and single-cell N2 fixation rates, as well as diazotroph community composition and abundance. UCYN-A1 and UCYN-A2 symbioses dominated diazotroph communities throughout the region during upwelling and oceanic seasons. Bulk N2 fixation was detected in most surface samples, with rates up to 23.0 ± 3.8 nmol N l−1 d−1, and was often detected at the deep chlorophyll maximum in the presence of nitrate (>1 µM). UCYN-A2 symbiosis N2 fixation rates were higher (151.1 ± 112.7 fmol N cell−1 d−1) than the UCYN-A1 symbiosis (6.6 ± 8.8 fmol N cell−1 d−1). N2 fixation by the UCYN-A1 symbiosis accounted for a majority of the measured bulk rates at two offshore stations, while the UCYN-A2 symbiosis was an important contributor in three nearshore stations. This report of active UCYN-A symbioses and broad mesoscale distribution patterns establishes UCYN-A symbioses as the dominant diazotrophs in the SCCS, where heterocyst-forming and unicellular cyanobacteria are less prevalent, and provides evidence that the two dominant UCYN-A sublineages are separate ecotypes.