Mississippi River and Campeche Bank (Gulf of Mexico) Episodes of Cross-Shelf Export of Coastal Waters Observed with Satellites

Authors

Daniel Otis, University of South FloridaFollow
Matthieu Le Hénaff, University of Miami
Vassiliki H. Kourafalou, University of Miami
Lucas McEachron, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Frank Muller-Karger, University of South FloridaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Keywords

satellite remote sensing, MODIS, Gulf of Mexico, Loop Current, cross-shelf export

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11060723

Abstract

The cross-shelf advection of coastal waters into the deep Gulf of Mexico is important for the transport of nutrients or potential pollutants. Twenty years of ocean color satellite imagery document such cross-shelf transport events via three export pathways in the Gulf of Mexico: from the Campeche Bank toward the central Gulf, from the Campeche Bank toward the Florida Straits, and from the Mississippi Delta to the Florida Straits. A catalog of these events was created based on the visual examination of 7280 daily satellite images. Water transport from the Campeche Bank to the central Gulf occurred frequently and with no seasonal pattern. Transport from Campeche Bank to the Florida Straits occurred episodically, when the Loop Current was retracted. Four such episodes were identified, between about December and June, in 2002, 2009, 2016, and 2017, each lasting ~3 months. Movement of Mississippi River water to the Florida Straits was more frequent and showed near seasonal occurrence, when the Loop Current was extended, while the Mississippi River discharge seems to play only a secondary role. Eight such episodes were identified—in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2014, and 2015—each lasting ~3 months during summer. The 2015 episode lasted 5 months.

Rights Information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Remote Sensing, v. 11, issue 6, art. 723

Scholar Commons Citation

Otis, Daniel; Le Hénaff, Matthieu; Kourafalou, Vassiliki H.; McEachron, Lucas; and Muller-Karger, Frank, "Mississippi River and Campeche Bank (Gulf of Mexico) Episodes of Cross-Shelf Export of Coastal Waters Observed with Satellites" (2019). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 686.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/686