Does AVHRR-sea surface temperature fronts in the Beaufort Sea reveal biological hotspots?

Author

Mustapha, S.B. ; Larouche, Pierre ; Dubois, Jean-Marie M.

Author_Institution

CARTEL, Univ. de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

fYear

2010

fDate

25-30 July 2010

Firstpage

3696

Lastpage

3699

Abstract

Eleven years of NOAA (AVHRR) images of sea surface temperature (SST) have been used to detect ocean thermal fronts in the southeastern Beaufort Sea. As expected, front detection is easier in the summer season. Location of major known fronts (Shelf Break Front, Mackenzie River Plume Front) was confirmed and new frontal regions (Cape Bathurst, Mackenzie Trough, Amundsen Gulf coastal zones) were identified. These fronts appear mostly driven by wind and tidal mixing along steep shelf slopes and may be playing an important role in the biological processes.

Keywords

geophysical image processing; ocean temperature; oceanographic regions; rivers; tides; wind; AVHRR-sea surface temperature fronts; Amundsen Gulf coastal zones; Arctic; Cape Bathurst; Mackenzie River Plume Front; Mackenzie Trough; NOAA images; Shelf Break Front; biological hotspots; biological processes; front detection; frontal regions; ocean thermal fronts; satellite imagery; shelf slopes; southeastern Beaufort Sea; tidal mixing; wind; Arctic; Biology; Ocean temperature; Satellites; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Arctic; Beaufort sea; Sea-surface temperature; biological hotspots; front; satellite imagery;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2010 IEEE International

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

ISSN

2153-6996

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9565-8

Electronic_ISBN

2153-6996

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5651158

Filename

5651158