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Effects of Total Nitrogen Deposition on the North Pacific and Northwestern Atlantic Ocean
Citation:
Sharif, H., V. Garcia, AND R. Mathur. Effects of Total Nitrogen Deposition on the North Pacific and Northwestern Atlantic Ocean. 2018 CMAS Conference, Durham, NC, October 22 - 24, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The poster was made at the 17th Annual CMAS Conference.
Description:
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is predicted to have measurable impacts on the primary production of biomass in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and the north Pacific Ocean. Both ocean regions are located downwind of high population densities with elevated sources of airborne nitrogen from agricultural and anthropogenic activities. The rapidly growing human population and modifications of the physical environment – particularly in east Asia -- have led to increased emissions of nitrogen species. This research uses chlorophyll-a concentrations gathered from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery as a proxy for marine biomass and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system to examine the impacts of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on biomass production. Simulations with season-specific emissions of total nitrogen deposition were conducted for the years 2003-2010. Linear regression is used to evaluate the relationship between total nitrogen deposition and biomass production. Improved knowledge of this comparison between the two study regions will provide a better understanding of oceanic ecosystems and how they respond to global environmental stressors.
