Estimation of Particulate Organic Carbon in the Ocean from Satellite Remote Sensing
Dariusz Stramski,
1*
Rick A. Reynolds,
1
Mati Kahru,
2
B.
Greg Mitchell
2
Measurements from the Southern Ocean show that particulate organic
carbon (POC) concentration is well correlated with the optical
backscattering by particles suspended in seawater. This relation, in
conjunction with retrieval of the backscattering coefficient from
remote-sensing reflectance, provides an algorithm for estimating
surface POC from satellite data of ocean color. Satellite imagery from
SeaWiFS reveals the seasonal progression of POC, with a zonal band of
elevated POC concentrations in December coinciding with the Antarctic
Polar Front Zone. At that time, the POC pool within the top 100 meters
of the entire Southern Ocean south of 40°S exceeded 0.8 gigatons.
1 Marine Physical Laboratory and
2 Marine Research Division, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA
92093-0238, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
stramski{at}mpl.ucsd.edu
