ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on June 8, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(7):1557-1569; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp142
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This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: Effects of Climate Change on the World's Oceans [View the issue table of contents]
Satellite-measured seasonal variations in primary production in the scallop-farming region of the Okhotsk Sea
1 School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
2 Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1, Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 041-8611, Japan
Correspondence to M. A. Mustapha: tel: +603 8921 3472; fax: +603 8925 3357; e-mail: muzz{at}ukm.my
Mustapha, M. A., Sei-Ichi, S., and Lihan, T. 2009. Satellite-measured seasonal variations in primary production in the scallop-farming region of the Okhotsk Sea. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1557–1569.Seasonal variation in primary production after a retreat of the sea ice in the scallop-farming region along the Hokkaido coast of the Okhotsk Sea (1998–2004) was determined using satellite images. Annual variability in primary production was caused by variability in the physical processes associated with retreat of the sea ice, advection of the S
ya Warm Current (SWC), and intrusion of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC). Variability in primary production resulted in variability in the Chl a concentration, which was also demonstrated with an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. Enhancement of Chl a concentration in the frontal area in late spring was demonstrated by the second EOF mode of Chl a concentration (14.2% of variance), in parallel with the generation of a well-developed frontal area resulting from the advection of warm waters of the SWC along the coast in late spring, as indicated by the second EOF mode of sea surface temperature (SST; 1.8% of variance). Elevated Chl a concentration and the presence of cold water of the ESC in late autumn were also highlighted by the third EOF mode of Chl a concentration (9.0% of variance) and SST (1.5% of variance). Prolonged high primary production within the scallop-farming region after spring is supported by the development of a frontal area in summer and strengthening of the ESC in autumn.
Keywords: EOF analysis, Hokkaido shelf, Okhotsk Sea, primary production, satellite images
Received 15 August 2008; accepted 5 April 2009; advance access publication 8 June 2009.