Monitoring Annual and Seasonal Variability of Dinoflagellate Blooms in Monterey Bay, California (USA) with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer

Dinoflagellate blooms in Monterey Bay, California (USA) have recently increased in frequency and intensity. Six years of satellite imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) is used to describe the annual and seasonal variability of bloom activity within the Bay. Three classes of MODIS algorithms were correlated against in situ chlorophyll measurements. The FLH algorithm provided the most robust estimate of bloom activity. Elevated concentrations of phytoplankton were evident during the months of AugustNovember, a period during which increased occurrences of dinoflagellate blooms have been observed in situ. Seasonal patterns of FLH show the onand offshore movement of areas of high phytoplankton biomass between oceanographic seasons. Higher concentrations of phytoplankton are also evident in the vicinity of the land-based nutrient sources and outflows, and the cyclonic bay-wide circulation can transport these nutrients to the northern Bay bloom incubation region.