Long-Term Observation Program (LTOP) Seward Line CHLOROPHYLL A data, Gulf of Alaska (1997-2010)

This project is a component of the integrated Long-term Monitoring of Marine Conditions and Injured Resources and Services submitted by McCammon et. al. The ocean undergoes year-to-year variability in the physical environment, superimposed on longerterm cycles, and potential long-term trends. These variations influence ocean chemistry, and propagate through the lower trophic levels, ultimately influencing fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Over the past 50 years the Northern Pacific appears to have undergone at least one clear regime shift, while the last 12 years have seen multi-years shifts of major atmospheric indices, leaving uncertainty about what regime the coastal Gulf of Alaska is currently in. Regime shifts are often expressed as fundamental shifts in ecosystem structure and function, such as the 1976 regime shift that resulted in a change from a shrimp dominated fisheries to one dominated by pollock, salmon and halibut. Long-term observations are also critical to describe the current state, and natural variability inherent in an ecosystem at risk of significant anthropogenic impact. The resulting information is necessary to assess ongoing climate impacts on the ecosystem and attendant fisheries and for developing and validating numerical ecosystem models to aid in prediction of potential impacts of long-term climate change.This chlorophyll data set is part of a multidisciplinary time-series along the Gulf of Alaska's Seward Line supported by North Pacific Research Board during the years after 2004. It is a continuation of the GLOBEC monitoring program which ran from 1997 through 2004.

This data was collected by Dr. Terry Whitledge of the Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks for the Gulf of Alaska LTOP (Long Term Observation Project) funded by various funders. The area of coverage is the Gulf of Alaska during 1997-2010.