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Temporal variability of temperature-nitrate relationship in a coastal region

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Abstract

The inverse relationship between nitrate and temperature (N-T relationship) has been used to estimate new production from remotely sensed sea surface temperature at the regional or global scale of oceans. This study aimed to develop a time-series model of the N-T relationship from automated, continuous hourly observations over two years on the coast of Halifax, Canada. The model demonstrated time-series variability of the N-T relationship at a coastal station on the Nova Scotia Shelf, with adjusted R 2 =0.999 4 and RMSE=0.025 7. The maximum residual value was 0.077. The annual temperature variations described a sine curve, and daily, weekly, and monthly variations fluctuated within the normal ranges, controlled by the local climate. The annual variation of nitrate concentration formed nearly a sine curve. Heavy or longlasting rainfall increased nitrate concentration by 4 to 30-fold in 24 h, and then the increased nitrogen was quickly depleted by phytoplankton growth in 10 to 48 h. In general, biological activity was a key factor in causing nitrate concentration change, dependent mainly on seawater temperature. The power function of the N-T relationship observed in our study area could be used to quickly estimate sea surface nitrate concentration, in combination with temperature data obtained by remote sensing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Jianping Yin  (殷建平), Li Lin  (林立) & Youshao Wang  (王友绍)

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jianping Yin  (殷建平) & Li Lin  (林立)

  3. South China Institute of Environmental Sciences of Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guangzhou, 510655, China

    Jianwei Du  (杜建伟)

Authors
  1. Jianping Yin  (殷建平)
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  2. Li Lin  (林立)
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  3. Youshao Wang  (王友绍)
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  4. Jianwei Du  (杜建伟)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianping Yin  (殷建平).

Additional information

Supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. KZCX2-YW-Q07-02, KSCX2-SW-132), the Project of Knowledge Innovation Program of South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (No. LYQ200701), and the Special Grant for Postgraduate Research, Innovation and Practice, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 52920-104)

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Yin, J., Lin, L., Wang, Y. et al. Temporal variability of temperature-nitrate relationship in a coastal region. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 32, 879–885 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-014-3136-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-014-3136-0

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