Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Unveils Phytoplankton Succession in Hurricane Wakes

Abstract Hyperspectral satellite data from the NASA mission, PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem), can be used to investigate the effects of hurricanes on phytoplankton composition. Results from four Atlantic Ocean hurricanes show the expected increases in chlorophyll‐a concentration associated with deepening of the mixed layer depth (MLD). New analysis of PACE ocean color data using the Multiple Ordination ANAlysis algorithm suggests that storms that cause the largest erosion of the MLD favor a fast increase in surface chlorophyll concentration, with Synechococcus showing the fastest response. Storms that produced smaller changes in MLD had a lagged increase in chlorophyll concentrations that still seemed to favor Synechococcus over Prochlorococcus and picoeukaryotes. This suggests that the rapid increase in chlorophyll associated with the largest changes in MLD may be the result of entrainment of phytoplankton from the chlorophyll maximum, while the lagged response associated with small changes in MLD may be associated mostly with availability of nutrients.