A multi-data approach for assessing the spatio-temporal variability of the Ivorian-Ghanaian coastal upwelling: Understanding pelagic fish stock dynamics
The majority of coastal pelagic fish species are known to be affected by strong interannual environmental variations. This variability is recognised as being largely due to the impact of the environment on recruitment processes, however, a complex balance exists between physical and biological processes which do not allow a comprehensive understanding of the observed stock dynamics. Habitats along the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana coast are mainly characterised by the presence of seasonal or permanent coastal upwellings. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) monitoring is the most suitable parameter to quantify these upwellings. A specific approach has been developed here using remote sensing observations of the METEOSAT satellite series. Two data sets from in situ sources are combined with daily satellite observations in order to quantify the seasonal intensity and spatial extent of coastal upwelling off Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
A monthly climatology was produced for the region, with a considerably more accurate spatial and seasonal precision than shown in currently available data. This has been made possible to estimate more reliably the SST anomalies found along the coast. This is particularly useful in this region where studies have shown the importance of subtle environmental variations on fish stocks such as changes in upwelling seasonality.
Read full paper https://doi.org/10.1016/S1570-0461(02)80029-5