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A global in situ data set for validation of ocean colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) is presented. This version of the compilation, starting in 1997, now extends to 2021, which is important for the validation of the most recent satellite optical sensors such as Sentinel 3B OLCI and NOAA-20 VIIRS. The data set comprises in situ observations of the following variables: spectral remote-sensing reflectance, concentration of chlorophyll-a, spectral inherent optical properties, spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient, and total suspended matter. Data were obtained from multi-project archives acquired via open internet services or from individual projects acquired directly from data providers. Methodologies were implemented for homogenization, quality control, and merging of all data. Minimal changes were made on the original data, other than conversion to a standard format, elimination of some points, after quality control and averaging of observations that were close in time and space. The result is a merged table available in text format. Overall, the size of the data set grew with 148 432 rows, with each row representing a unique station in space and time (cf. 136 250 rows in previous version; Valente et al., 2019). Observations of remote-sensing reflectance increased to 68 641 (cf. 59 781 in previous version; Valente et al., 2019). There was also a near tenfold increase in chlorophyll data since 2016. Metadata of each in situ measurement (original source, cruise or experiment, principal investigator) are included in the final table. By making the metadata available, provenance is better documented and it is also possible to analyse each set of data separately. The compiled data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.941318 (Valente et al., 2022).

A global compilation of in situ data is useful to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here we describe the data compiled for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The data were acquired from several sources (including, inter alia, MOBY, BOUSSOLE, AERONET-OC, SeaBASS, NOMAD, MERMAID, AMT, ICES, HOT and GeP&CO) and span the period from 1997 to 2018. Observations of the following variables were compiled: spectral remote-sensing reflectances, concentrations of chlorophyll a, spectral inherent optical properties, spectral diffuse attenuation coefficients and total suspended matter. The data were from multi-project archives acquired via open internet services or from individual projects, acquired directly from data providers. Methodologies were implemented for homogenization, quality control and merging of all data. No changes were made to the original data, other than averaging of observations that were close in time and space, elimination of some points after quality control and conversion to a standard format. The final result is a merged table designed for validation of satellite-derived ocean-colour products and available in text format. Metadata of each in situ measurement (original source, cruise or experiment, principal investigator) was propagated throughout the work and made available in the final table. By making the metadata available, provenance is better documented, and it is also possible to analyse each set of data separately. This paper also describes the changes that were made to the compilation in relation to the previous version (Valente et al., 2016). The compiled data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.898188 (Valente et al., 2019).

We studied vortex nucleation/annihilation process and its temperature dependence in micromagnetic objects with lowered symmetry using micro-Hall magnetometry. Magnetization reversal curves were obtained for the Pacman-like nanodots placed directly on Hall probes. Lowered symmetry of the object leads to good control of its chirality. Vortex nucleation and annihilation fields strongly depend on the angle of the external in-plane magnetic field with respect on the nanodot symmetry. The micromagnetic simulations support the experimental results - the vortex nucleation fields are controlled by local magnetization configurations present in the object (C-, S-, and double S-states) for field just above vortex nucleation field. The experiments also confirm that the vortex nucleation proceeds via thermal activation over an energy barrier.

The protection of biodiversity is one of the most important goals in terrestrial and marine conservation. Marine conservation approaches have traditionally followed the example of terrestrial initiatives. However, patterns, processes, habitats, and threats differ greatly between the 2 systems—and even within the marine environment. As a result, there is still a lack of congruence as to how to best identify and prioritize conservation approaches moving from the static terrestrial and nearshore realm into a more fluid, 3-dimensional pelagic realm. To address this problem, we investigate how the conservation science literature has been used to inform and guide management strategies in the marine system from coastal to pelagic environments. As cumulative impacts on the health of the oceans continue to increase, conservation priorities have shifted to include highly dynamic areas of the pelagic marine system. By evaluating whether priorities match science with current place-based management approaches (i.e. marine protected areas, MPAs), we identify important gaps that must be considered in current conservation schemes. Effective pelagic MPA design requires monitoring and evaluation across multiple physical, biological, and human dimensions. Because many threatened and exploited marine species move through an ephemeral and ever-changing environment, our results highlight the need to move beyond traditional, 2-dimensional approaches to marine conservation, and into dynamic management approaches that incorporate metrics of biodiversity as well as oceanographic features known to promote multilevel, trophic productivity.

The development of algorithms for remote sensing of water quality (RSWQ) requires a large amount of in situ data to account for the bio-geo-optical diversity of inland and coastal waters. The GLObal Reflectance community dataset for Imaging and optical sensing of Aquatic environments (GLORIA) includes 7,572 curated hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance measurements at 1 nm intervals within the 350 to 900 nm wavelength range. In addition, at least one co-located water quality measurement of chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, absorption by dissolved substances, and Secchi depth, is provided. The data were contributed by researchers affiliated with 59 institutions worldwide and come from 450 different water bodies, making GLORIA the de-facto state of knowledge of in situ coastal and inland aquatic optical diversity. Each measurement is documented with comprehensive methodological details, allowing users to evaluate fitness-for-purpose, and providing a reference for practitioners planning similar measurements. We provide open and free access to this dataset with the goal of enabling scientific and technological advancement towards operational regional and global RSWQ monitoring., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms across the land-water interface poses significant risks to coastal ecosystem structure and human health. Defining significant drivers and their interactive impacts on blooms allows for more effective analysis and identification of specific conditions supporting phytoplankton growth. A novel iterative Random Forests (iRF) machine-learning model was developed and applied to two example cases along the California coast to identify key stable interactions: (1) phytoplankton abundance in response to various drivers due to coastal conditions and land-sea nutrient fluxes, (2) microbial community structure during algal blooms. In Example 1, watershed derived nutrients were identified as the least significant interacting variable associated with Monterey Bay phytoplankton abundance. In Example 2, through iRF analysis of field-based 16S OTU bacterial community and algae datasets, we independently found stable interactions of prokaryote abundance patterns associated with phytoplankton abundance that have been previously identified in laboratory-based studies. Our study represents the first iRF application to marine algal blooms that helps to identify ocean, microbial, and terrestrial conditions that are considered dominant causal factors on bloom dynamics., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

We compared the mean normalized water-leaving radiances ([L W ¯(λ)] N ) of two in-water optical profilers, a compact optical profiling system (C-OPS) and a HyperPro II Optical Profiler (HP2), with modeled [L W ¯(λ)] N at five stations in Monterey Bay, California. Although C-OPS and HP2 [L W ¯(λ)] N s were mostly within one standard deviation, C-OPS and modeled [L W ¯(λ)] N showed the lowest absolute percent differences (≤25% for most wavelengths) at four of the stations. We attribute this to C-OPS's high vertical resolution (∼1  cm), which is important for detecting changes in optical layers and for measuring the upper 0-0.5 m of the water column. HP2's low vertical resolution (∼50  cm), low signal-to-noise ratio, and inability to measure the upper 0-0.5 m are problematic in Monterey Bay. Although a significant component of the [L W ¯(λ)] N differences between C-OPS and HP2 likely stems from fluctuating water mass's inherent optical properties, the 25% error in [L W (λ)] N s processed from HP2 casts, compared to <1% for C-OPS, is also important.

From August through December 2015, beachcast bird survey programs reported increased deposition of Common Murres ( Uria aalge) on central and northern California beaches, but not on southern California beaches. Coastal wildlife rehabilitation centers received more than 1,000 live, stranded, and debilitated murres from Sonoma County to San Luis Obispo County during August-October. Approximately two-thirds of admitted birds were after-hatch-year birds in emaciated body condition and in various stages of molt, with extremely worn plumage. Necropsies were done on a sample ( n=35) of birds to determine the probable cause of death of beachcast carcasses. Most birds examined during necropsy were emaciated, with starvation the most likely cause of death. Birds were also tested for underlying infectious diseases at the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center and harmful algal bloom toxins at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Twenty-four out of 29 tested birds had detectable levels of domoic acid, and no indication of infectious disease was found. Emaciation is thought to be the cause of death for these birds, with a large warm water anomaly and harmful algal bloom playing a secondary detrimental role.

The biodiversity and high productivity of coastal terrestrial and aquatic habitats are the foundation for important benefits to human societies around the world. These globally distributed habitats need frequent and broad systematic assessments, but field surveys only cover a small fraction of these areas. Satellite-based sensors can repeatedly record the visible and near-infrared reflectance spectra that contain the absorption, scattering, and fluorescence signatures of functional phytoplankton groups, colored dissolved matter, and particulate matter near the surface ocean, and of biologically structured habitats (floating and emergent vegetation, benthic habitats like coral, seagrass, and algae). These measures can be incorporated into Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), including the distribution, abundance, and traits of groups of species populations, and used to evaluate habitat fragmentation. However, current and planned satellites are not designed to observe the EBVs that change rapidly with extreme tides, salinity, temperatures, storms, pollution, or physical habitat destruction over scales relevant to human activity. Making these observations requires a new generation of satellite sensors able to sample with these combined characteristics: (1) spatial resolution on the order of 30 to 100-m pixels or smaller; (2) spectral resolution on the order of 5 nm in the visible and 10 nm in the short-wave infrared spectrum (or at least two or more bands at 1,030, 1,240, 1,630, 2,125, and/or 2,260 nm) for atmospheric correction and aquatic and vegetation assessments; (3) radiometric quality with signal to noise ratios (SNR) above 800 (relative to signal levels typical of the open ocean), 14-bit digitization, absolute radiometric calibration <2%, relative calibration of 0.2%, polarization sensitivity <1%, high radiometric stability and linearity, and operations designed to minimize sunglint; and (4) temporal resolution of hours to days. We refer to these combined specifications as H4 imaging. Enabling H4 imaging is vital for the conservation and management of global biodiversity and ecosystem services, including food provisioning and water security. An agile satellite in a 3-d repeat low-Earth orbit could sample 30-km swath images of several hundred coastal habitats daily. Nine H4 satellites would provide weekly coverage of global coastal zones. Such satellite constellations are now feasible and are used in various applications., (© 2018 The Authors Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America.)

To solve the radiative transfer equation and relate inherent optical properties (IOPs) to apparent optical properties (AOPs), knowledge of the volume scattering phase function is required. Due to the difficulty of measuring the phase function, it is frequently approximated. We explore the sensitivity of derived AOPs to the phase function parameterization, and compare measured and modeled values of both the AOPs and estimated phase functions using data from Monterey Bay, California during an extreme "red tide" bloom event. Using in situ measurements of absorption and attenuation coefficients, as well as two sets of measurements of the volume scattering function (VSF), we compared output from the Hydrolight radiative transfer model to direct measurements. We found that several common assumptions used in parameterizing the radiative transfer model consistently introduced overestimates of modeled versus measured remote-sensing reflectance values. Phase functions from VSF data derived from measurements at multiple wavelengths and a single scattering single angle significantly overestimated reflectances when using the manufacturer-supplied corrections, but were substantially improved using newly published corrections; phase functions calculated from VSF measurements using three angles and three wavelengths and processed using manufacture-supplied corrections were comparable, demonstrating that reasonable predictions can be made using two commercially available instruments. While other studies have reached similar conclusions, our work extends the analysis to coastal waters dominated by an extreme algal bloom with surface chlorophyll concentrations in excess of 100 mg m -3 .

Atmospheric correction of visible/infrared spectra traditionally involves either (1) physics-based methods using Radiative Transfer Models (RTMs), or (2) empirical methods using in situ measurements. Here a more general probabilistic formulation unifies the approaches and enables combined solutions. The technique is simple to implement and provides stable results from one or more reference spectra. This makes empirical corrections practical for large or remote environments where it is difficult to acquire coincident field data. First, we use a physics-based solution to define a prior distribution over reflectances and their correction coefficients. We then incorporate reference measurements via Bayesian inference, leading to a Maximum A Posteriori estimate which is generally more accurate than pure physics-based methods yet more stable than pure empirical methods. Gaussian assumptions enable a closed form solution based on Tikhonov regularization. We demonstrate performance in atmospheric simulations and historical data from the "Classic" Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-C) acquired during the HyspIRI mission preparatory campaign.

The seeding of an expanse of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean with low concentrations of dissolved iron triggered a massive phytoplankton bloom which consumed large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrate that these microscopic plants cannot fully utilize under natural conditions. These and other observations provide unequivocal support for the hypothesis that phytoplankton growth in this oceanic region is limited by iron bioavailability.