POSTER SESSION 3
15:30–17:30, Wednesday, September 16
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
ABSTRACT 1187 | POSTER 51
HYPERSPECTRAL OPTICAL WATER TYPES OF THE U.S. NORTHEAST SHELF AND ADJACENT WATERS
The U.S. Northeast Shelf (NES) is a rapidly changing marine ecosystem where shifting water masses, driven by circulation, stratification, and episodic intrusions, shape the region’s optical and ecological landscape. Hyperspectral observations from the recently launched Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) provide hyperspectral resolution enabling a new view to disentangle these interactions. Using fuzzy c-means clustering applied to hyperspectral PACE-OCI remote-sensing reflectance, we derive a new classification of thirteen optical water types that capture coherent combinations of physical water mass properties and optically active constituents. These clusters reveal how features such as warm-core ring intrusions, crossshelf transport, and seasonal mixing regimes imprint distinct hyperspectral signatures on the surface ocean. By linking these optical water types to patterns in the underlying optical constituent contributions, phytoplankton biomass, and community composition, we demonstrate their ecological relevance. Time series analyses further show how the spatial extent and prevalence of specific water masses evolve seasonally and interannually across the NES. This hyperspectral water mass framework provides a powerful new tool for interpreting NES ecosystem change and offers a pathway for improved, regionally optimized ocean color products relevant to fisheries and biogeochemical understanding.
Rowan Cirivello*, Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2269-0491
Colleen Mouw, Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2516-1882
Kimberly Hyde, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1564-5499
Haley Synan, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island, [email protected]
Audrey Ciochetto, Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-407X
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
