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Cumulative solar irradiance and potential large-scale sea ice algae distribution off East Antarctica (30°E–150°E)

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Abstract

We present a computational model of the large-scale cumulative light exposure of sea ice in the Southern Ocean off East Antarctica (30°E–150°E). The model uses remotely sensed or modelled sea ice concentration, snow depth over sea ice, and solar irradiance data, and tracks sea ice motion over the season of interest in order to calculate the cumulative exposure of the ice field to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Light is the limiting factor to sea ice algal growth over winter and early spring, and so the results have implications for the estimation of algal biomass in East Antarctica. The model results indicate that highly light-exposed ice is restricted to within a few degrees of the coast in the eastern part of the study region, but extends much further north in the 30°E–100°E sector. The relative influences of sea ice motion, solar flux, and snow depth variations on interannual variations in model predictions were evaluated. The model estimates of cumulative PAR were found to correlate with satellite estimates of subsequent open-water chlorophyll-a concentration, consistent with the notion that sea ice algae can provide inocula for phytoplankton blooms.

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Acknowledgments

Thorsten Markus provided the SMMR-SSM/I snow depth data. Comments from Delphine Lannuzel, Jan Lieser, and four anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian Government Cooperative Research Programme through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC), and by the Australian Antarctic Division under AAS Project 2943.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, TAS, 7050, Australia

    Ben Raymond & S. Nicol

  2. Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Ben Raymond, K. Meiners, B. Pasquer, G. D. Williams & S. Nicol

  3. Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0431, USA

    C. W. Fowler

  4. Institute for Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan

    G. D. Williams

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  1. Ben Raymond
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  6. S. Nicol
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Correspondence to Ben Raymond.

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Raymond, B., Meiners, K., Fowler, C.W. et al. Cumulative solar irradiance and potential large-scale sea ice algae distribution off East Antarctica (30°E–150°E). Polar Biol 32, 443–452 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0538-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0538-5

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