PHYTOPLANKTON PRIMARY PRODUCTION

CoastObs uses Earth Observation and validated in-situ data to provide monitoring of phytoplankton primary production in coastal regions in Europe.

Why is it important?

Phytoplankton plays a fundamental role in the marine food web, biogeochemical cycling and climatic processes. Estimating its spatiotemporal variations helps us understand biodiversity trends of other marine organisms and surface marine productivity, useful for ecosystem management, fisheries and aquaculture.

What does CoastObs offer?

CoastObs service provides an accurate and timely geospatial information as a result of combining satellite mapping and in-situ measurements, to present phytoplankton primary production concentration maps.

How was the data validated?

The phytoplankton primary production product was validated against ground measurements of Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometry (used as an estimate of gross primary production) from Ria de Vigo, Atlantic coast, Venice lagoon and Adriatic. Past data collected by partners using the C-14 method were also used for validation of the modified VGPM model applied to Envisat MERIS data.

 

Figure 1. Validation of m2VGPM with in situ data and associated errors