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The basic bio-optical application for the tower system will be to relate
physical processes on the mid-to-outer shelf to surface and subsurface
variability in bio-optical properties, notably chlorophyll, CDOM fluorescence
and absorption, and attenuation coefficients. Physical processes which
will strongly influence bio-optical property distributions include variability
in cross-shelf hydrographic structure and exchange, Gulf-Stream eddies,
and resuspension of fine particles by major storms. While a regional
scale, synoptic picture can be obtained from satellite imagery, this
is patchy in time and space due to variable cloud cover, and is limited
to the bio-optical signal coming from the upper water column only. The
tower network will provide information on physical and bio-optical properties
on a continuous basis, with depth resolution. Once developed, the tower
system will also offer a potentially valuable site for field testing
a range of bio-optical instrumentation and calibrating and validating
bio-optical products and models
With
the exception of the turbid coastal zone, much of the South Atlantic
Bight shelf sea is often in the euphotic zone and benthic macroalgal
production contributes significantly to total mid-shelf primary production.
From continuous above- and in-water measurements of visible irradiance
(Photosynthetically available radiation, or PAR) at R2 and M2, intergrated
daily irradiance and attenuation in the water column are determined
(see figure below).
At
R2 daily PAR flux to the bottom varies with daylength, cloud cover and
optical variability in the water column. Higher turbidity in winter
may be associated with the transport of coastal water across the Georgia
shelf and resuspension of fine material from the sand sediments of the
mid-shelf during storms.
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