Satellite observations of SW oceanography

in 2013, and using fronts to describe

ecological interactions
Peter Miller
South West Marine Ecosystems Conference 2014
4th April 2014
Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Satellite oceanography and fronts

SW oceanography from space in 2013

Algal blooms in 2013

Satellite detection of ocean fronts

Ecological applications, conservation and MPAs

MultiView composites

2001

vs

2007

vs

2013 SST

Cooler than
usual

Feb

Oct.

Warmer than
usual

Earlier onset of stratification

April 2001

Apr 2013

Miller, P.I. (2009) Composite front maps for improved visibility of dynamic sea-surface features
on cloudy SeaWiFS and AVHRR data. Journal of Marine Systems, 78(3), 327-336.

A typical July amazingly not stormy

Jul 2001

Jul 2013

Later breakdown of stratification

Oct. 2001

Oct. 2013

Chlorophyll-a in a typical year

Chlorophyll-a in 2013 lower than typical?

Longer Spring bloom

Lack of summer
dinoflagellate
blooms

Algal bloom news

In June 2013, there was an
extensive Phaeocystis bloom
along the south Devon & Cornwall
coast.
Could this have depleted the
nutrients to reduce later blooms?

In early 2014, we observed

species normally associated with
warm temperate/tropical water:
Dinophysis tripos Toxic
Trichodesmium brought by
Gulf Stream

Satellite oceanography and fronts

SW oceanography from space in 2013

Algal blooms in 2013

Satellite detection of ocean fronts

Ecological applications, conservation and MPAs

Introduction to ocean fronts

Ocean fronts delineate the
boundary between water masses.
Analogous to atmospheric fronts.
Where interesting things happen
Areas of enhanced mixing.
Many pelagic fish and megafauna
distributions are related to fronts.

Front detection method

SST map
Local window

Histogram bimodality
test and threshold

Front map

Cohesion test

Contour following

Cayula, J.-F., and Cornillon, P., (1992), Edge detection algorithm for SST
images. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 9, 67-80.

Advantages of front detection

SST

Does not blur dynamic features.

Highlights persistent or strong gradient fronts.

Fcomp

Miller, P.I., (2009) Composite front maps for improved visibility of dynamic oceanic fronts on cloudy AVHRR and SeaWiFS data, Journal of Marine Systems.

Satellite oceanography and fronts

SW oceanography from space in 2013

Algal blooms in 2013

Satellite detection of ocean fronts

Ecological applications, conservation and MPAs

Frequently observed ocean fronts

Huge unique archive: >30,000
AVHRR passes 1999-2008
Developed and tested methodology
to analyse persistent fronts in time
series
Percentage of months in which strong
front observed = Frequent fronts

Nov. 2008

Dec.1998

Summer

Jul. 1982

Miller, P.I. & Christodoulou, S. (2014) Frequent locations of ocean fronts as an

indicator of pelagic diversity: application to marine protected areas and
renewables. Marine Policy. 45, 318329.

Areas of Pelagic Ecological Importance

Front maps were used to

prioritise candidate MPAs:
10 out of 46 offshore MPAs.

Summer
Frequent fronts

Ocean fronts: from spaghetti to synoptic chart

Warm
Cold

Strong

Weak

Key
May
2008

May
2008

Miller, P.I., (in preparation), A line clustering algorithm with application to simplifying ocean front maps derived from satellite data, Remote Sensing of Environment.

Ocean front metrics

Front density

Front side

Front distance

Low

High

Warm
Cold

Low

Strong

Weak

Key
May
2008

May
2008

High

Studying marine animal use of fronts

Gaining evidence on different marine taxa
Pirotta, E., et al. (2014) Scale-dependent foraging ecology of a marine top predator modelled using
passive acoustic data. Functional Ecology, 28(1), 206-217.
Oppel, S., et al. (2012) Comparison of five modelling techniques to predict the spatial distribution
and abundance of seabirds. Biological Conservation, 156, 94-104.
Schabetsberger, R., et al. (2013) Oceanic migration behaviour of tropical Pacific eels from Vanuatu.
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 475, 177-190.
Edwards, E.W.J., et al. (2013) Fine-scale linkage between coastally breeding seabirds and midAtlantic Ridge prey communities. Deep Sea Res. II, 98B, 438-444.

Kylie Scales
PhD project on ocean front metrics for improving
understanding of marine animal distribution.

Scottish marine protected areas

Advancing the methodology to
detect fronts closer to the coast
Ocean colour fronts at 300m resolution
Compare thermal and colour fronts

Used to support the development of

Scotland's MPA network
Identify areas of wider functional
importance

Hot off
the press
www.snh.gov.uk

Miller, P.I., Xu, W. & Carruthers, M. (submitted) Seasonal shelf-sea front mapping using satellite ocean colour
and temperature to support development of a marine protected area network. Deep Sea Research II.

Going global with EBSAs

North Pacific
NW Atlantic

In a project with the US Duke University,

we are providing large-scale front frequency
maps to guide definition of Ecologically or
Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the
high seas.
East Pacific

Workshops to define high-seas MPAs

Intergovernmental meetings
organised by the Convention on
Biological Diversity.

The front maps contributed to

East Pacific EBSAs for:
Costa Rica Dome
Carnegie Ridge and Equatorial front

Satellite oceanography and fronts

SW oceanography from space in 2013

Algal blooms in 2013

Satellite detection of ocean fronts

Ecological applications, conservation and MPAs

Peter Miller pim@pml.ac.uk

Extra slides

Thermal and chlorophyll front fusion

Sep.
2010

Thermal fronts
Dilated 6 pixels

Chl-a fronts
Dilated 6 pixels

Front fusion
mask

Front fusion map:

bright/faded (fusion)
red/blue (thermal),
green/blue (chl-a),
magenta/blue (overlap)

Biophysical interactions
Mar. 2010

Co-location of many
fronts in March on Malin
Shelf.
Notice the outer front at
the shelf-break is only a
chl-front - water may be
stratified.

Front metrics for marine ecology

Frequent fronts
Composite front map

Synoptic front chart

Fusion / integration

Global front map

Peter Miller, pim@pml.ac.uk

Satellite detection of oceanic fronts

26 Jun.
2009
06:37

27 Jun.
2009
19:58

Composite front maps: revealing strong fronts

Fmean

Fcomp

Fpersist

Mean gradient

Pfront
Persistence

Fprox
Advection / proximity

Miller, P.I., (2009) Composite front maps for improved visibility of dynamic oceanic fronts on cloudy AVHRR and SeaWiFS data, Journal of Marine Systems.

Basking shark track vs. synoptic fronts

24 Aug. 15 Oct. 2002

Acknowledgements to Prof David Sims and his shark-tagging team at MBA, Plymouth

Warm
Cold

Strong

Weak

Key

Kittiwake foraging radii

Acknowledgements to Natural England; RSPB staff and

volunteers (mainland), Vickie Heaney (Scilly) and Nicola
Saunders and Sophie Wheatley (Lundy).

Kittiwake productivity vs fronts

Fronts and marine biology

Bakuns triad: enrichment, concentration and
retention
Bakun (2006) Fronts and eddies as key structures in the
habitat of marine fish larvae. Scientia Marina.

Many pelagic fish

distributions related to
fronts
E.g. tuna: Worm et al. (2005)
Global patterns of predator
diversity in the open oceans.
Science.
E.g. basking sharks: Fronts
influence zooplankton diel
migration and hence prey
behaviour (Sims et al., 2005).

Firth of
Clyde,
Scotlan
d
55.5N

Front

Basking
shark
track

55.0N

5.5W
5.0W
Priede, I.G. & Miller, P.I. (2009) A basking shark tracked by satellite
with simultaneous remote sensing: reveals orientation to a
thermal front. Fisheries Research, 95(2-3), 370-372.

Front metrics for marine ecology

Introduction to ocean fronts

Satellite detection of ocean fronts

Front metrics and ecological applications

Nuts and bolts

Matchup input data format

A text file with space-separated values (can be multiple spaces or
tabs), in these columns in this order (or Excel spreadsheet)
latitude: decimal degrees, north positive.
longitude: decimal degrees, east positive.
value: any numeric value, could be the measurement for that position, or
some numeric sample identifier.
date: in format dd/mm/yyyy.
time: in format hh:mm. Use '12:00' if the time is unimportant or unknown.
50.5905
50.6817
50.6750
50.6613
50.7008
50.5667
50.4500
. . .

-2.9153
-2.9817
-2.9817
-2.8433
-2.7535
-3.4200
-3.4700

2.394
1.8967
0.945
1.7388
0.0436
0.2091
1.1

13/06/2005
27/06/2005
29/06/2005
13/07/2005
30/04/2007
30/01/2008
09/09/2009

12:00
12:00
12:00
12:00
12:00
12:00
12:00

Matchup output format

lat
54.24310
54.24940
54.27150
54.16240
54.22490

lon
-4.76190
-4.79160
-4.74900
-4.79490
-4.70270

value
12.11600
12.11500
12.11400
12.11300
12.11200

EO_value
-999.00000
-999.00000
-999.00000
0.00300
0.00220

st_dev
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000

offset[day]
-999.00000
-999.00000
-999.00000
-0.80208
-1.10417

date
10/08/2012
10/08/2012
10/08/2012
09/08/2012
09/08/2012

time
14:57
10:23
07:45
07:15
14:30

match_filename
Missing
Missing
Missing
M2012218M2012218-