Merging Data from Ships, Satellites and Moorings to Understand Biological-Physical Coupling in the Equatorial Pacific

Answering oceanographic questions relating to coupling between physics, biology and chemistry increasingly requires that we understand a variety of processes acting over a range of temporal and spatial scales. No single observational platform can provide the necessary data for achieving this goal. Ships provide the opportunity to conduct detailed process studies, but the spatial and temporal coverage of measurements is relatively sparse in time and space. Satellites, on the other hand, offer exceptional spatial and temporal coverage, but cannot quantify vertical variability in the water column. Moorings and drifters give excellent temporal coverage, but are limited to an Eulerian or Lagrangian spatial context, respectively. The various strengths and weaknesses of these techniques illustrate the potential benefits of combining measurements across several platforms. This presentation will focus on biological-physical coupling in the equatorial Pacific, during the 1997-99 El Niño - La Niña. The physical processes that will be described include Kelvin waves, remote and local wind forcing of the thermocline, tropical instability waves, upwelling variability and the dynamics of the equatorial undercurrent. The multi-platform approach has yielded significant new insights into the physical control of phytoplankton dynamics in the equatorial Pacific, and can be readily applied to other systems in the future.