In search of red Noctiluca scintillans blooms in the East China Sea

Lin Qi, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, Sheng-Fang Tsai, National Taiwan Ocean University, Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, Keelung, Taiwan, Yanlong Chen, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China, Chengfeng Le, Zhejiang University, Ocean College, Hangzhou, China and Chuanmin Hu, University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, United States
Abstract:
Red Noctiluca scintillans (RNS) is one of the major species causing red tides and bioluminescence, yet extremely difficult to track due to their ephemeral nature. Here, we show that RNS can be fingerprinted from satellite data because of their unique absorption and scattering properties. Retrospective analysis of MODIS data of 2000 – 2017 over the East China Sea reveal seasonal patterns and inter-annual changes as well as an increasing trend of RNS blooms, all driven by hydrographical and biological factors and possibly by the construction of the Three-Gorges Dam. Unlike what has been reported earlier from field measurements, RNS blooms are found in both coastal and offshore waters of the ECS, to at least 126oE (> 330 km from the Yangtze River mouth). RNS blooms are also found in August and September where water temperature of 28 – 30oC is well beyond the earlier reported range of 10 – 25oC.
Back to: Application of Remote Sensing to Coastal/Upwelling Regions I