SeaWiFS Temporary Real-Time Agreement: Sei-ichi Saitoh

SeaWiFS Temporary Real-Time Authorization Agreement Application Form


Applicant's Name:  	Sei-ichi Saitoh	
Institution:	 	Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University	
Address:		3-1-1 Minato-cho Hakodate Hokkaido, Japan	
			041-8611
	
Telephone:		(0138)40-8843	
Fax Number:		(0138)40-8844	
E-mail Address: 	ssaitoh@salmon.fish.hokudai.ac.jp	

Type of Temporary Agreement requested:

An agreement that temporarily enables a non-real time SeaWiFS HRPT station 
to decrypt real-time data and release it to the Authorized Users list.

Time period of temporary agreement:

Dates (month/day/year): 09/01/2004 - 09/14/2004 
			09/29/2004 - 10/12/2004

SeaWiFS HRPT Station to provide data: HMIR (R/V Mirai) 

List of Authorized Users to access real-time data. 

1. Sei-ichi Saitoh 

Project Title: Bio-optics and Ocean Remote Sensing in the Beaufort Sea 

Principal Investigator(s): Sei-ichi Saitoh 
 
Funding Agency(s): Hokkaido University 

Description of the Research Project and Justification for Real-time SeaWiFS Data:

Theme: Bio-optical and Ocean Color Validation in the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea

Sei-ichi Saitoh and Atsushi Matsuoka
Laboratory of Marine Environment and Resource Sensing (Satellite Oceanography)
Hokkaido University, Japan

Ocean Color Algorithms (OCAs) has developed in low- and mid- latitude using large amount of in-situ data sets. Using them, ocean color sensors such as SeaWiFS and MODIS have provided overview of chlorophyll a distribution in the world ocean. Especially offshore Peru, Chavez et al.(1998) suggested that chlorophyll a concentration varied with ENSO event dramatically, which means biological activities are very sensitive to the physical phenomena. Conversely, we can understand the effect of physical phenomena indirectly when we examine the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton. At this point, monitoring of phytoplankton continuously is one of the most important for understanding Atmosphere-Ocean interaction.

For the north Polar Regions, on the other hand, there are inaccurate data for chlorophyll a distribution because we have insufficient data to develop OCAs. This means we can't know biological activities in terms of low trophic level. Although Cota et al.(2004) and Stramska et al.(2003) have conducted a development of OCA using ratio of R_rs and L_wn in order for us to apply OCA for polar regions, questions still remain for bio-optical behavior such as absorption, scattering, and diffusion attenuation of seawater, irradiance of water column as well as species of phytoplankton, which are fundamental parameters for development of OCA.

To develop the OCA, we take measurement of water samples and its optical properties to tune it up in the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea by R/V Mirai using SeaWiFS real-time data. For this study area, the origin of Pacific water comes out through the Bering Strait, mixing with fresh water from Mackenzie River and the origin of Atlantic water. Water column is unique relative to other regions, which can have an important role in the Arctic climate systems in terms of physical and biogeochemical processes of water.

At this point, analysis of the relationship between in situ data and ocean color data obtained from SeaWiFS should allow us not only to develop OCA but also to reveal biological activities in terms of primary production, which leads to understand the feedback systems from the ocean to the atmosphere through carbon cycle and also what's going on in the Arctic regions in terms of primary production.

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Grace Su ( grace@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9494