Summer 2008
Oceanography
Team Members: Phillip Moore, Yao Messan, Brittany Maybin, Chelsea Goins
Team Mentor: Dr. Jinchun Yuan

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll a
in Coastal Waters of
North Carolina

ABSTRACT

Temperature and chlorophyll a are two fundamental properties of seawater. Traditionally, both temperature and chlorophyll a are determined by shipboard sensors that can only provide limited temporal and spatial coverage. Consequently, the distribution of temperature and chlorophyll a in coastal waters of North Carolina is a poorly known. In this study, satellite remote sensing will be used to study the temporal and spatial variations of the coastal waters of North Carolina. The region (34N, 40N, 78W, 74W) of our study will include Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, and part of Northeast North Atlantic Ocean. Two sets of data, sea surface chlorophyll a (chl a) and sea surface temperature (SST) will be used for this study. Monthly sea surface chl a concentration based on 10 years of Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data and SST data based on 5 years of Aqua-MODIS data will be obtained from NASA website (GIOVANNI). (1) The monthly climatology of sea surface chl a will be calculated from monthly remote sensing data; (2) Temporal variation of area averaged chl a and SST for selected regions (i.e. Albemarle Sound, Chesapeake Bay) will also be calculated; (3) Temporal variations of both chl a and SST distribution animation will also be created.