CTD, Disko west cruise 2009

In September 2009, a ship-based study was carried out in the Davis Strait/southern Baffin Bay along a range of transects covering the area between the west coast of Greenland and Baffin Island (Canada) from 68-72º N . Water temperature, salinity and in situ chlorophyll a (chl. a) measured in 0-500 m depths followed the general hydrographical characteristics of the late summer situation. Surface chl. a concentration based on remote sensing satellite data from September 2009 supported these findings. Measurement of in situ chl. a concentrations revealed a maximum in the subsurface (30-50 m water depths). Thus, spatial distribution of the phytoplankton bloom was often restricted to subsurface rather than the surface waters and therefore not detected by the remote sensing during September.