About the Project
Over the annual cycle, Arctic phytoplankton assemblages undergo marked shifts in size and taxonomic structure. Blooms of diatoms and coccolithophores are regularly observed in remote sensing imagery in Arctic and Subarctic Seas (e.g. Stuart et al. 2000, Smyth et al. 2004). Exploiting variation in the spectral signature of light absorption by marine phytoplankton is one cost-effective way to monitor shifts in phytoplankton biogeography in regions that are remote, or, as in the case of the Arctic, inaccessible for most of the year. However, development of algorithms to derive phytoplankton community structure from satellite data requires ship-based observations of the physiological and optical characteristics of the microflora. In the Arctic such data are currently lacking.
This studentship project will:
1. Use in-situ data collected by the DPhil candidate and project collaborators during a series of oceanographic expeditions to the Barents Sea (HPLC pigment, cell counts by optical microscopy, and phytoplankton light absorption) to examine the relative importance of cell size, pigment complement and photoacclimation in determining the shape and magnitude of the specific-absorption coefficient of phytoplankton from optical theory.
2. Using pigment data, cell counts, and phytoplankton absorption, and remote sensing reflectance data collected on the ship, test and refine satellite algorithms used to detect the presence of the major Arctic taxonomic groups: diatoms, Phaeocystis, coccolithophores, and small flagellates (including Micromonas).
The student will be jointly supervised by Dr. Heather Bouman (Oxford) and Dr. David McKee (Strathclyde).
Dr. Bouman has extensive expertise in phytoplankton ecology and marine bio-optics. She is experienced in the collection, processing and interpretation of optical data for coastal and open ocean environments. Dr Bouman has used a variety of methods to assess the community structure of marine phytoplankton (flow cytometry, HPLC, microscopy, molecular probes).
Dr McKee provides expertise in marine optics and radiative transfer modelling. He has extensive experience in the collection of in situ inherent optical properties and hyperspectral radiometry. He has worked on the development of radiative transfer approaches to the interpretation of ocean colour imagery. The student will have access to a new DTC on Space Applications and will engage with the MASTS research pooling initiative.
The successful applicant, whose first degree might be in marine, environmental or earth sciences, will have a strong interest in multidisciplinary research, good quantitative and computing skills, and an aptitude for field-based experimental work. The student will be part of the NERC Changing Arctic Ocean project PRIZE Arctic PRoductivity in the seasonal Ice ZonE). The student will work closely with other NERC-funded graduate students involved in the PRIZE project, as well as the national and international experts in the fields of Arctic oceanography, marine ecology and biogeochemistry.
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