A Reassessment of the Integrated Impact of Tropical Cyclones on Surface Chlorophyll in the Western Subtropical North Atlantic

Journal Article · Sat Feb 28 04:00:00 EST 2015 · Geophysical Research Letters, 42(4):1158-1164

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063222· OSTI ID:1182875

Foltz, Gregory R.; Balaguru, Karthik; Leung, Lai-Yung R.

The impact of tropical cyclones on surface chlorophyll concentration is assessed in the western subtropical North Atlantic Ocean during 1998–2011. Previous studies in this area focused on individual cyclones and gave mixed results regarding the importance of tropical cyclone-induced mixing for changes in surface chlorophyll. Using a more integrated and comprehensive approach that includes quantification of cyclone-induced changes in mixed layer depth, here it is shown that accumulated cyclone energy explains 22% of the interannual variability in seasonally-averaged (June–November) chlorophyll concentration in the western subtropical North Atlantic, after removing the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The variance explained by tropical cyclones is thus about 70% of that explained by the NAO, which has well-known impacts in this region. It is therefore likely that tropical cyclones contribute significantly to interannual variations of primary productivity in the western subtropical North Atlantic during the hurricane season.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1182875
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-105538; KP1703010
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, 42(4):1158-1164, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters, 42(4):1158-1164
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

chlorophyll
cyclone-induced
phytoplankton
tropical cyclones