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JPR Advance Access published online on November 22, 2004
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbh159
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Received July 19, 2004
Accepted October 28, 2004

Short communication

Seasonal and interannual variability of chlorophyll a and primary production in the Equatorial Atlantic: ‘in situ’ and remote sensing observations

Valesca Pérez 1*, Emilio Fernández 1, Emilio Marañón 1, Pablo Serret 1, and Carlos García-Soto 2

1 Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad de Vigo, E-36310 Vigo, Spain and
2 Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Santander, APDO. 240, E-39080 Santander, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Valesca Pérez, E-mail: vperez{at}uvigo.es


  Abstract

The seasonal variability of phytoplankton in the Equatorial Atlantic was analyzed using SeaWiFSderived chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration data from 1998 to 2001, together with ‘in situ’ Chl a and primary production data obtained during seven cruises carried out between 1995 and 2000. Monthly averaged SeaWiFS Chl a distributions are in agreement with previous observations in the Equatorial Atlantic, showing marked differences between 10°W in the eastern (ETRA) and 25°W in the western (WTRA) Equatorial Atlantic provinces (Longhurst et al., 1995). The seasonal cycle of SeaWiFS-derived Chl a concentration calculated for 0°-10°S, 0°-20°W (in ETRA) is consistent with ‘in situ’ Chl a measurements, with values ranging from 0.16 mg m-3, from February to April, to 0.52 mg m-3 in August. Lower variability was observed in 10°N-10°S, 20°-30°W (WTRA) where minimum and maximum concentrations occurred in April (0.15 mg m-3) and in August (0.24 mg m-3), respectively. A significant empirical relationship between depth-integrated primary production and ‘in situ’ measured sea surface Chl a was found for ETRA, allowing us to estimate the seasonal cycle of depth-integrated primary production from SeaWiFS-derived Chl a. As for Chl a, this model was verified in a small area of the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic (0°-10°S, 0°-20°W) although in this instance, it was not completely able to describe the magnitude and temporal variability of ‘in situ’ primary production measurements. The annual euphotic depth-integrated primary production rate estimated for ETRA by our empirical model was 1.4 Gt C yr-1, which represents 16% of the open ocean primary production estimated for the whole Atlantic Ocean.


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