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Remote Sensing and Underwater Glider Observations of a Springtime Plume in Western Lake Superior
Citation:
McKinney, P. AND J. Austin. Remote Sensing and Underwater Glider Observations of a Springtime Plume in Western Lake Superior. To be Presented at International Association for Great Lakes Research, Detroit, MI, May 15 - 19, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
Plumes are commonly observed in satellite imagery of western Lake Superior following storm events, and represent a significant cross-shelf pathway for sediment and other constituents. However, their subsurface extent is poorly understood. This study reports results from plume observations following a storm in late April 2016 using satellite remote sensing and an autonomous Slocum electric glider, which transected the plume-impacted waters 12 times over 9 days, completing over 2000 vertical profiles with a horizontal resolution scale of 100 m. Daily 250m resolution band 1 MODIS surface reflectance imagery indicated the plume extended 25 km offshore, and coincident 1 km MODIS SST observations indicated the plume was warmer than the surrounding offshore waters. Glider observations of optical backscatter indicated the plume extended vertically through the water column over 50 m to the bottom. We used the combined satellite and glider observations to estimate the plume volume and additional glider observations of temperature and chlorophyll and CDOM fluorescence to assess the effect of springtime plumes on the lake’s biogeochemical cycling.