Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Description of the oceanographic condition off Sanriku, northwestern Pacific, and its relation to spring bloom detected by the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) images

  • Published:
Journal of Oceanography Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We describe the oceanographic condition as observed by hydrographic data and phytoplankton spring bloom detected by OCTS images off Sanriku, northwestern Pacific, during the spring bloom period in 1997. The relationship between the two is discussed. OCTS images detected the bloom in early April in the coastal area around the Izu ridge north of the Kuroshio and the eastern coastal area of Hokkaido to the Oyashio front. The bloom areas were seen along the offshore Kuroshio Extension from the end of April, in the upstream region of the Oyashio south of the Kurile Islands, except for a part of coastal area from the end of May, and in the Kuroshio warm-core ring 93A (KWCR 93A) from early June. The temperature difference between the surface and subsurface layer is used as a stratification index. This was large in the upstream region of the Oyashio south of the Kurile Islands and KWCR 93A from early June. Previous research has pointed out that the spring bloom usually corresponds to the development of stratification in the water column due to seasonal warming. In addition to that, we suggest that the transportation of water containing a high chlorophylla concentration by advection due to strong currents, like the Kuroshio and the Oyashio, is important for the formation of an area of high chlorophylla concentration. These results indicate that the OCTS images are useful for a knowledge of the distribution and the change of chlorophylla concentration in the northwestern Pacific region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Elliott, B. A. (1982): Anticyclonic rings in the Gulf of Mexico.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,12, 1292–1309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Hakodate Marine Observatory (1997): Report of the oceanographic observation in the sea south of Hokkaido and east of Honshu in April and May, 1997.Oceanographic observation report of the Hakodate Marine Observatory,35(2), 33 pp.

  • Hata, K. (1974): Behavior of a warm eddy detached from the Kuroshio.J. Meteorol. Res.,26, 295–321 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiramatsu K., H. Fukushima, S. Matsumura and Y. Sugimori (1987): CZCS-derived pigment concentration fields in Japanese coastal area.Sora to Umi, No. 9, 1–7 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Inagake, D. (1997): Statistics of the Kuroshio WCR migration by historical data from 1981 to July 1996.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 59, 149–162 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ito, S. and Y. Shimizu (1997): Distribution patterns of temperature data and a method to draw isotherms in the Tohoku offshore area.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 59, 163–170 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishizaka J. and A. Harashima (1991): CZCS data number around Japan and surface chlorophyll data number simultaneously observed by ship.Sora to Umi, No. 13 1–8 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasai, H., H. Saito, A. Yoshimori and S. Taguchi (1997): Variability in timing and magnitude of spring bloom from remotesensed ocean color in the Oyashio region, the western subarctic Pacific off Hokkaido, Japan.Fish. Oceanogr.,6(2), 118–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasai, H., H. Saito and A. Tsuda (1998): Estimation of standing stock of chlorophylla and primary production from remotesensed ocean color in the Oyashio region, the western subarctic Pacific, during the spring bloom in 1997.J. Oceanogr. 54, this volume, 527–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, H. (1969): Statistical estimation of isotherms indicative of the Kuroshio axis.Deep-Sea Res.,16, 109–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, H. (1972): Hydrography of the Kuroshio Extension. p. 235–352. InKuroshio: Its Physical Aspects, ed. by H. Stommel and K. Yoshida, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, H. (1989): Long-term fluctuation in the north limit of the Kuroshio Extension Axis and in the south limit of the Oyashio Water near the east coast of Japan.Bull. Jap. Soc. Fish. Oceanogr.,53(4), 353–363 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitano, K. (1975): Some properties of the warm eddies generated in the confluence zone of the Kuroshio and Oyashio currents.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,5, 245–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuroda, R. (1987): Appearance and movement of the warm-core ring east of Japan.Kaiyou Kagaku,19(5), 365–274 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lay, D. Y. and P. L. Richardson (1977): Distribution and movement of Gulf Stream Rings.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,7, 670–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumura, S. and H. Fukushima (1988): Water mass analysis using ocean color map and sea surface temperature map obtained by NIMBUS-7/CZCS.Sora to Umi, No. 10, 27–39 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizuno, K. (1984): Notes on the hydrographic variability in the vicinity of the east coast of Japan.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 46, 61–80 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizuno, K. (1985): Systematic and synoptic character of the warm-core ring in the Kuroshio/Oyashio interfrontal zone.Kaiyou Kagaku,17(7), 399–406 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizuno K. and W. B. White (1983): Annual and interannual variability in the Kuroshio Current system.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,13, 1847–1864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murakami, M. (1994): On long-term variations in hydrographic conditions in the Tohoku area.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 56, 47–56 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogawa, Y., M. Hirai and I. Yasuda (1987): Fluctuations of the first Oyashio Instrusion and it's influences on coastal fishery-resources.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 49, 1–15 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogishima, T., H. Fukushima and Y. Sugimori (1986): Problems relating to atmospheric correction algorithm for CZCS data in Japanese coastal area.Sora to Umi, No. 8, 53–63 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Saino, T. (1998): Foreword.J. Oceanogr.,54, this volume, 381–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saitoh, S., M. Kishino, H. Kiyofuji, S. Taguchi and M. Takahashi (1996): Seasonal variability of phytoplankton pigment concentration in the Okhotsk Sea.J. Remote Sensing Soc. of Japan,16(2), 86–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shimizu, Y. and S. Ito (1996): A new method to draw isotherms in the Tohoku offshore area— New interpolation method “flexible Gaussian filter”Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 58, 105–117 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shimada, M., H. Oaku, Y. Mitomi, H. Murakami, A. Mukaida, J. Ishizaka, H. Kawamura, T. Tanaka, M. Kishino and H. Fukushima (1998): Calibration and validation of the ocean color version 3 products from Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) on board ADEOS.J. Oceanogr.,53, 00–00.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yokouchi, K., D. Inagake, Y. Matsuo and M. Murakami (1993): Hydrographic structure and chlorophyll-a distributions observed during southward movement of a Kuroshio warm-core ring into subtropical waters.Bull. Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., No. 55, 75–88 (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshimori, A., J. Ishizaka, T. Kono, H. Kasai, H. Saito, M. J. Kishi and S. Taguchi (1995): Modeling of spring bloom in the western subarctic Pacific (off Japan) with observed vertical density structure.J. Oceanogr.,51, 471–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Denzo Inagake

    Present address: Oceanography and Southern Ocean Resources Division, National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 5-7-1, Orido, 424-8633, Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries Oceanography Division, Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, 3-27-5, Sinhama-cho, 985-0001, Shiogama, Miyagi, Japan

    Denzo Inagake

  2. Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1, Minato-cho, 041-8611, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    Sei-ichi Saitoh

Authors
  1. Denzo Inagake
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sei-ichi Saitoh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Inagake, D., Saitoh, Si. Description of the oceanographic condition off Sanriku, northwestern Pacific, and its relation to spring bloom detected by the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) images. J Oceanogr 54, 479–494 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02742450

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02742450

Keywords

Search

Navigation