In this study the authors investigated phytoplankton variations in the Arabian Sea associated with Hurricane Gonu using remote-sensing data of chlorophyll-
a (Chl-
a), sea surface temperature (SST) and winds. Additional data sets used for the study included the hurricane and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth
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In this study the authors investigated phytoplankton variations in the Arabian Sea associated with Hurricane Gonu using remote-sensing data of chlorophyll-
a (Chl-
a), sea surface temperature (SST) and winds. Additional data sets used for the study included the hurricane and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data. Hurricane Gonu, presenting extremely powerful wind intensity, originated over the central Arabian Sea (near 67.7ºE, 15.1ºN) on June 2, 2007; it traveled along a northwestward direction and made landfall in Iran around June 7. Before Hurricane Gonu, Chl-
a data indicated relatively low phytoplankton biomass (0.05-0.2 mg m
-3), along with generally high SST (>28.5 ºC) and weak wind (<10 m s
-1) in the Arabian Sea. Shortly after Gonu’s passage, two phytoplankton blooms were observed northeast of Oman (Chl-
a of 3.5 mg m
-3) and in the eastern central Arabian Sea (Chl-a of 0.4 mg m
-3), with up to 10-fold increase in surface Chl-
a concentrations, respectively. The Chl-
a in the two post-hurricane blooms were 46% and 42% larger than those in June of other years, respectively. The two blooms may be attributed to the storm-induced nutrient uptake, since hurricane can influence intensively both dynamical and biological processes through vertical mixing and Ekman Pumping.
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