POSTER Session 3

OPERATIONAL WATER MASS CLASSIFICATION FOR THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC CONTINENTAL SHELF

The productive waters of the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf are highly dynamic and variable through space and time. Large scale circulation changes and rapid warming have led to changes in prevalence and location of spatially-explicit water masses on the continental shelf. Variations in water masses can alter plankton community composition, affect primary productivity, and shift essential fish habitat. Accurate characterization and classification of specific water masses in the region is necessary to quantify dominant water masses and develop fisheries relevant operational products. Current satellite-derived water classification products (i.e. Seascapes) do not accurately define the expected water masses of the Northwest Atlantic. Hyperspectral imagery from the new PACE OCI instrument provides an opportunity to improve optical water type and phytoplankton composition classification that can be combined with additional biophysical data to improve water mass identification. An unsupervised clustering model will be used to optimize a regionally tuned Northwest Atlantic continental shelf Seascapes product. The satellite model will be validated using a similar classification model trained with fifty years of in situ hydrographic data. The high spectral, spatial and temporal resolution satellite based product will be used to identify dominant water masses to better characterize and quantify their seasonality, interannual variability and changes over time. This new operational product will be incorporated into new and existing modeling efforts aimed at understanding the oceanographic drivers of lower trophic levels, commercial fisheries, and protected species.

Haley Synan, NOAA, USA, [email protected]

Kimberly Hyde, NOAA, USA, [email protected]

Colleen Mouw, University of Rhode Island, USA, [email protected]

Audrey Ciochetto, University of Rhode Island, USA, [email protected]

Rowan Cirivello, University of Rhode Island, USA, [email protected]

Chris Melrose, NOAA, USA, [email protected]

Sarah Salois, NOAA, USA, [email protected]

Glen Gawarkiewicz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, USA, [email protected]

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