A model of near-sea ice phytoplankton blooms

Phytoplankton spring blooms in the Arctic have increased in magnitude and extent over the past two decades, particularly in open waters near the sea ice edge. We develop an idealized model of phytoplankton dynamics that takes into account the role of sea ice meltwater flux and its impact on surface mixed layer depth. Satellite observations feature a characteristic peak in phytoplankton concentration at around 100 km from the ice edge. This peak, as well as the overall structure of the plankton distribution is captured by the model dynamics. In the model, the characteristic spatial scale emerges from a balance of exponential growth near the ice edge, horizontal advection, and increased decay with distance from the ice as the mixed layer deepens. Observations and data further agree in that meltwater impacts plankton concentrations up to 1000 km from the ice edge. The results suggest that reduced meltwater input under future sea ice retreat may suppress spring phytoplankton blooms in the r..., The data used in this study consists of 3 main components:
(1) Near-surface chl-a concentration data for the years 2011–2019. This consists of monthly Level 3 products from three sensors: MODIS Aqua (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2021), MODIS Terra (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2022), and VIIRS-SPNN (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2017), all at 9 km resolution. Note that VIIRS-SPNN only came online in late 2011 and so only covers the spring seasons 2012--2019.
Files: \"Chla_Modis_Aqua.zip\", \"Chla_Modis_Terra.zip\",\"Chla_VIIRS_SNPP.zip\"
(2)  Version 1 of the monthly Level 3 Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Arctic Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) product provided by LOCEAN (Supply et al. 2020) at 25 km resolution. This product spans from June 2010 to November 2019 and covers the Arctic region north of 60◦N. Since we are interested in the spring bloom period (April–June) we limit our study period to years 2011–2019.
File: \"SSS_SMOS.zip\"
(3) Sea Ice Concen..., , # Data from: A model of near-sea ice phytoplankton blooms

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8gtht76xw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8gtht76xw)

## Description of the data and file structure

The data used in this study consists of 3 main components:

(1) Near-surface chl-a concentration data for the years 2011–2019. This consists of monthly Level 3 products from three sensors: MODIS Aqua (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2021), MODIS Terra (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2022), and VIIRS-SPNN (NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, GSFC 2017), all at 9 km resolution. Note that VIIRS-SPNN only came online in late 2011 and so only covers the spring seasons 2012--2019.

Files: \"Chla_Modis_Aqua.zip\", \"Chla_Modis_Terra.zip\",\"Chla_VIIRS_SNPP.zip\"

(2)  Version 1 of the monthly Level 3 Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Arctic Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) product provided by LOCEAN (Supply et al. 2020) at 25 km resolution. This product spans from June 2010 to November 2019 ...