Report of the In situ component of the ?Plymouth Chlorophyll Meeting and Workshops (Extended Antares Network)?. Sponsored by GOOS, GEO, PML and POGO. 18-22 September 2006

LUTZ, V.A.; BARLOW, R.; TILSTONE, G.; SATHYENDRANATH, S.; PLATT, T.; HARDMAN-MOUNTFORD, N.

Plymouth (Gran Bretaña)

Workshop; Plymouth Chlorophyll Meeting and Workshops (Extended Antares Network); 2006

Group of Earth Observations

It is essential that the satellite coverage provided by the proposed network should be complemented by high quality and mutually-consistent in situ measurements of chlorophyll-a (chla), and if possible by a set of ancillary bio-optical measurements. Ideally these data could be used to establish regional remote-sensing algorithms for estimating chlorophyll-a from ocean-colour data. It is recognised that this may not be possible from the very beginning, considering that the recommended method for satellite validation is by comparison with chlorophyll-a estimated by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and that due to its cost not all laboratories in the network will have access to this instrument. Nevertheless, it is important to assure that good quality in situ measurements, the best possible according to the infrastructure available, are made and that these should be useful for examining the performance of the satellite algorithms on a regional basis, as well as to provide data for periods when satellite observations are not possible (for example, due to cloud cover). The objective of the ?in situ component? of the workshop was then, to asses differences in the estimates of chla concentration within the methods in use in the laboratories taking part in the network, with the final aim of establishing the best possible practice rendering good quality and comparable results among the participants.