A comparison of global estimates of marine primary production from ocean color

Mary-Elena Carr , Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs (1) , Marjorie Schmeltz , Maki Noguchi Aita , David Antoine (2) , Kevin R. Arrigo (3) , Ichio Asanuma , Olivier Aumont (4) , Richard Barber , Michael Behrenfeld (5) , Robert Bidigare , Erik T. Buitenhuis (6) , Janet Campbell (7) , Aurea Ciotti (8) , Heidi Dierssen , Mark Dowell , John Dunne (9) , Wayne Esaias , Bernard Gentili (2) , Watson Gregg (10) , Steve Groom (11) , Nicolas Hoepffner (12) , Joji Ishizaka , Takahiko Kameda , Corinne Le Quere (6) , Steven Lohrenz , John Marra , Frederic Melin (13) , Keith Moore , Andre Morel (2) , Tasha E. Reddy , John Ryan (14) , Michele Scardi (15) , Tim Smyth , Kevin Turpie , Gavin Tilstone (16) , Kirk Waters , Yasuhiro Yamanaka (17)

1 VIMS - Virginia Institute of Marine Science
2 LOV - Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche
3 Department of Geophysics [Stanford]
4 LOCEAN - Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques
5 OSU - Oregon State University
6 MPI-BGC - Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie
7 OPAL - Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory
8 USP - Universidade de São Paulo = University of São Paulo
9 Department of Chemistry [York, UK]
10 GMAO - Global Modeling and Assimilation Office
11 Remote Sensing Group
12 Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
13 IES - JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability
14 MBARI - Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
15 Department of Biology
16 PML - Plymouth Marine Laboratory
17 FRCGC - Frontier Research Center for Global Change

The third primary production algorithm round robin (PPARR3) compares output from 24 models that estimate depth-integrated primary production from satellite measurements of ocean color, as well as seven general circulation models (GCMs) coupled with ecosystem or biogeochemical models. Here we compare the global primary production fields corresponding to eight months of 1998 and 1999 as estimated from common input fields of photosynthetically-available radiation (PAR), sea-surface temperature (SST), mixed-layer depth, and chlorophyll concentration. We also quantify the sensitivity of the ocean-color-based models to perturbations in their input variables. The pair-wise correlation between ocean-color models was used to cluster them into groups or related output, which reflect the regions and environmental conditions under which they respond differently. The groups do not follow model complexity with regards to wavelength or depth dependence, though they are related to the manner in which temperature is used to parameterize photosynthesis. Global average PP varies by a factor of two between models. The models diverged the most for the Southern Ocean, SST under 10 degrees C, and chlorophyll concentration exceeding 1 mg Chlm(-3). Based on the conditions under which the model results diverge most, we conclude that current ocean-color-based models are challenged by high-nutrient low-chlorophyll conditions, and extreme temperatures or chlorophyll concentrations. The GCM-based models predict comparable primary production to those based on ocean color: they estimate higher values in the Southern Ocean, at low SST, and in the equatorial band, while they estimate lower values in eutrophic regions (probably because the area of high chlorophyll concentrations is smaller in the GCMs). Further progress in primary production modeling requires improved understanding of the effect of temperature on photosynthesis and better parameterization of the maximum photosynthetic rate. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Earth Sciences; Oceanography

Mary-Elena Carr, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Marjorie Schmeltz, Maki Noguchi Aita, David Antoine, et al.. A comparison of global estimates of marine primary production from ocean color. Deep-Sea Research Part Ii-Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2006, 53 (5-7), pp.741-770. ⟨10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.01.028⟩. ⟨hal-03494195⟩