Highly resolved surface phytoplankton community composition along the British Columbia coast, derived from in situ hyperspectral radiometry

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dc.contributor.authorVishnu, Perumthuruthil S.
dc.contributor.authorDel Bel Belluz, Justin
dc.contributor.authorXi, Hongyan
dc.contributor.authorHussain, Midhun S.
dc.contributor.authorBracher, Astrid
dc.contributor.authorCosta, Maycira
dc.date.accessioned2026-03-05T17:18:54Z
dc.date.available2026-03-05T17:18:54Z
dc.date.copyright2025
dc.description.abstractQuantitative measurements of phytoplankton community composition (PCC) are essential for understanding fisheries production, ocean nutrient cycling, and the export of particulate carbon to the ocean interior. However, these measurements are constrained in dynamic coastal waters due to the spatial-temporal constraints of in situ sampling, difficulty quantifying communities, and the challenges of deriving community compositions via satellites. Here, we work to address these issues by using highly resolved in situ hyperspectral radiometry, along a ship of opportunity track through Case-2 waters of the Strait of Georgia (SoG) British Columbia, to derive phytoplankton community composition. First, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF)-based algorithm was developed using HPLC CHEMTAX-derived phytoplankton group-level chlorophyll-a (Chla) and Total Chla (TChla) concentrations and corresponding principal components derived from hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance. Second, the outputs were evaluated using cross-validation, showing good retrievals for TChla and the regionally dominant phytoplankton groups: diatoms, cryptophytes, green algae, and raphidophytes, which followed expected spatial-temporal trends with diatom-dominated spring blooms and succession to high diversity flagellate-dominated summer conditions. Furthermore, the outputs captured fine spatial scale trends including strong harmful raphidophyte blooms over the narrow transition to low salinity Fraser River plume influenced waters. These findings highlight the potential of using highly resolved hyperspectral radiometry to derive fine-scale trends in phytoplankton group level community composition in optically dynamic coastal waters. Coupled with additional measures, this method could provide valuable information on phytoplankton dynamics in the SoG, which is a critical habitat for a high diversity of pelagic fish species, including Pacific salmon.
dc.description.reviewstatusReviewed
dc.description.scholarlevelFaculty
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was supported by funding from NSERC NCE MEOPAR�Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction, and Response Network, as well as by the Canadian Space Agency (FAST 18FAVICB09). Additional financial support for instrumentation on BC Ferries was provided by CFI/BCKDF and NSERC-DG grants awarded to Costa. Contributions from Hongyan Xi and Astrid Bracher were funded through the Copernicus Marine Service GLOPHYTS project (21036L05B-COP-INNO SCI-9000), implemented by Mercator Ocean under a delegation agreement with the European Union. In addition, Astrid Bracher's contribution was partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action through the TypSynSat (FKZ 50 EE 1915) and EnMAP CalVal Water (FKZ 50 EE 1923) projects.
dc.identifier.citationVishnu, P. S., Del Bel Belluz, J., Xi, H., Hussain, M. S., Bracher, A., & Costa, M. (2025). Highly resolved surface phytoplankton community composition along the British Columbia coast, derived from in situ hyperspectral radiometry. Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, 130(10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jg008956
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1029/2025jg008956
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/23410
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherJournal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences
dc.rightsCC BY-NC 4.0en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectphytoplankton community composition
dc.subjecthyperspectral radiometry
dc.subjectempirical orthogonal function
dc.subjecthighly-resolved data
dc.subjectoptically complex waters
dc.subjectSpectral Remote Sensing Laboratory
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.titleHighly resolved surface phytoplankton community composition along the British Columbia coast, derived from in situ hyperspectral radiometry
dc.typeArticle

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