Biogeochemical properties of the Ross Sea retrieved from in situ and remote optoelectronics devices during the Austral summer 1997-98.

The Southern Ocean and, in particular, the Ross Sea are among the more productive water bodies of the world ocean. The great impact of primary production on the global carbon cycle and, consequently, on the future climate justifies the large efforts devoted to its accurate assessment. In this paper, we present the results obtained with in situ optical methods (phytoplankton composition and pigment recognition), an active remote sensor (lidar fluorosensor) and passive remote sensors (satellite radiometers), in the framework of the 13th Italian Antarctic Oceanographic Campaign (December 1997 – January 1998). The synoptic picture gained by the integration of those different optoelectronics devices reveal interesting features of the phytoplankton blooms taking place in the Ross Sea during the Austral summer 1997-98. In particular, our primary production data are higher than previous estimates.