Greenland Sea primary production with respect to changes in sea ice cover

Abstract

It has been estimated that phytoplankton contribute to about a half of the world's primary production and to over 90% of marine primary production. Phytoplankton are responsible for releasing half of the world's oxygen and for removing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the surface waters. Nowadays, Arctic phytoplankton deserve special attention as they are living in waters with the most prominent climate change effect. The current thesis combines remote sensing, simulated and field data for the years 1998-2012, to investigate the seasonal cycle, variability and productivity of phytoplankton in the Greenland Sea. In addition to that, we study the link between phytoplankton and physical factors, such as sea ice concentration and thickness, water temperature and salinity.