Recorded presentation14A.4A
Effect of desert dust on the biological activity of ocean surface
Vani Starry Manoharan, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL; and U. S. Nair and R. M. Welch
The importance of studying desert dust originates from its potential effect on the Earth's radiation budget and its impact on regions far from their sources. Mineral dust also fertilize the surface of the ocean by depositing minerals, in particular, ferric components. The deposited iron, a strong source of blooms of ocean, has a strong correlation with the ocean chlorophyll concentration. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) shows that the Southern Atlantic Ocean is a region having high deposition of dust. A dust storm event in Sahara desert during 26 February, 2000 was chosen to study the impact of dust deposition over the ocean surface. The GOES - 8 data was used to track the locus of the dust storm. In this paper, we use the SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) multi-color images of the ocean surface along with MODIS aerosol measurements to compare the chlorophyll concentration before and after the impact of the dust storm event. Recorded presentation
Session 14A, Detection and attribution of climate change: Part III
Thursday, 24 January 2008, 11:00 AM-12:15 PM, 215-216
Previous paper Next paper