Marine Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Keywords
satellite remote sensing, hypoxia, river plume, river plume color index, Louisiana continental shelf
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL067521
Abstract
Satellite-based empirical models explaining hypoxic area and volume variation were developed for the seasonally hypoxic (O2 < 2 mg L−1) northern Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi River. Annual variations in midsummer hypoxic area and volume were related to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-derived monthly estimates of river plume area (km2) and average, inner shelf chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a, mg m−3). River plume area in June was negatively related with midsummer hypoxic area (km2) and volume (km3), while July inner shelf Chl a was positively related to hypoxic area and volume. Multiple regression models using river plume area and Chl a as independent variables accounted for most of the variability in hypoxic area (R2 = 0.92) or volume (R2 = 0.89). These models explain more variation in hypoxic area than models using Mississippi River nutrient loads as independent variables. The results here also support a hypothesis that confinement of the river plume to the inner shelf is an important mechanism controlling hypoxia area and volume in this region.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Geophysical Research Letters, v. 43, issue 6, p. 2693-2699
©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Scholar Commons Citation
Le, Chengfeng; Lehrter, John C.; Hu, Chuanmin; and Obenour, Daniel R., "Satellite-based Empirical Models Linking River Plume Dynamics with Hypoxic Area and Volume" (2016). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 1955.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1955
