POSTER SESSION 2
10:30–12:30, Tuesday, September 15
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
ABSTRACT 1158 | POSTER 170
HYPERSPECTRAL ARGO FLOATS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
In the last decade, autonomous BioGeoChemical-Argo floats have revolutionized the way we observe plankton ecosystems and the carbon cycle across the global ocean. Besides hydrological properties of the upper 2000m water masses, measurements of optical backscattering, chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral downwelling irradiance have provided new insights into carbon dynamics. However, our knowledge on particle characteristics and phytoplankton community composition has remained limited.
Recent technological advancements have empowered standard BGC-Argo payloads with two hyperspectral radiometers for downwelling irradiance and upwelling radiance (TriOS RAMSES, Germany) to infer phytoplankton abundances and diversity.
Between May and October 2025, an initial array of seven BGC-Argo floats equipped with these new observation capabilities has been deployed across open waters of the Mediterranean Sea. While deployments have primarily targeted data collection in scarcely observed areas, fine-scale positioning allowed to fully capture diversity in phytoplankton phenology and interannual variability across the so-called “bloom”, “intermittently” and “no bloom” ecoregions.
Here, we present this regional BGC-Argo array and showcase measurements across the diverse optical and trophic conditions that floats have encountered. We discuss how such arrays of hyperspectral radiometers will help in bridging gaps in marine biodiversity and ocean health, while also representing a useful network for validation of current and future hyperspectral satellite missions.
Emanuele Organelli, CNR-ISMAR, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8191-8179
Mengyu Li, CNR-ISMAR, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0939-7406
Lou Andres, LOV-IMEV, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4494-6350
Giovanni La Forgia, CNR-ISMAR, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8543-6369
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
