Daily impact of the simultaneous passage of binary typhoons on sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration dynamics in the Northwestern Pacific

Abstract

Typhoons are recognized as one of the most destructive meteorological phenomena, exerting significant influences on marine ecosystems. Sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL)an essential indicator of phytoplankton biomass, can be utilized to characterize the disturbances of typhoons on the marine ecosystem. However, it is challenging to investigate this impact at a daily scale due to the missing CHL remote sensing data caused by cloud cover. Given that concurrent passing typhoons may interact with CHL, this study analyzes the effect of the simultaneous passage of binary typhoons Tembin and Bolaven on CHL by using daily CHL reconstruction data, and investigates the role of ocean environmental factors in driving the dynamics of CHL, including sea surface temperature (SST), mixed layer depth (MLD), and sea surface height anomaly (SSHA). The results show that typhoons Tembin and Bolaven increase CHL with the maximum increment of ∼3.2 mg∙m−3 during 4–6 days after typhoons passage. The maximum change areas of CHL are distributed near the intersection of typhoon track of (32°N, 125.2°E), corresponding to the regions of greater variation in SST and MLD. During 15 days before and after typhoons (i.e., from 15 August to 15 September 2012), SST is negatively correlated with CHL (the correlation coefficient of −0.85) and MLD is positively correlated with CHL (the correlation coefficient of −0.80). SST immediately declines after typhoons with a maximum cooling of 7.8 deg. C, showing the decreased SST from ∼28 deg. C to ∼23 deg. C can promote phytoplankton growth. MLD deepens from 10 m to >25 m caused by typhoon-induced strong winds, allowing more nutrients to be transported from the subsurface layer to the euphotic layer for phytoplankton blooms. Furthermore, oceanic eddies captured by SSHA change from cyclonic to anticyclonic eddies accompanied by the beginning of CHL increases, and the largest CHL increases correspond to the distribution of pre-existing cyclonic eddies. It suggests that Tembin and Boravin promote phytoplankton growth to increase CHL by enhancing vertical mixing and upwelling to transport nutrients to the sea surface. These findings inspire us to rethink the daily effects of typhoons on CHL, with critical importance for predicting and managing the ecological consequences of typhoons in the ocean.