The Role of Rapid Changes in Weather on Phytoplankton Spring Bloom
Dynamics Captured by an Autonomous Uncrewed Surface Vehicle
Abstract
The spring phytoplankton bloom plays a major role in pelagic ecosystems;
however, its dynamics is overlooked due to insufficient, highly-resolved
observational data. Here we investigate the start, peak and decline of a
two-week phytoplankton spring bloom in Frohavet, located at the coast of
mid-Norway. We used observations from an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV)
combined with buoy measurements, satellite images, discrete water
sampling and modelling approaches. The spring bloom (March-June 2022)
consisted of multiple peaks (up to 5 mg m-3), with a long peak in April,
coincident with the period when the USV captured the temporal and
spatial dynamics of the bloom. Short-term (5 days) episode of calm
weather in the spring, such as clear skies and consistent low wind speed
(< 7 m s-1) shoaled the mixed layer depth (< 15 m),
after strong wind speed (average wind speed up to 20 m s-1 in March) and
mixing events in winter. These rapid changes in the environment promoted
the rapid development of the spring bloom - from 1 to 5 mg m-3 in 5
days. Likewise, the collapse of the bloom was rather quick, 1-2 days and
coincides with low nitrate values and rapid increase in wind speed
(> 10 m s-1), suggesting strong influence of the
environment on phytoplankton dynamics during early stages of the spring
bloom. Understanding the dynamics of the spring bloom is crucial for the
management of marine resources. Integration of distinct observational
platforms has the potential to unveil the environmental factors
underlying phytoplankton bloom dynamics.