Satellite-Based Assessments of Ocean Acidification for the Hawaiian Islands Region

Abstract

Ocean acidification (OA) is a growing global environmental concern with impacts affecting regions all over the world, including remote areas such as Hawai‘i. OA is gaining worldwide attention due to environmental impacts including the detrimental effects of OA on coral reefs. Increased anthropogenic release of CO₂ into the atmosphere will result in increased absorption by the world oceans. There is a general lack of information regarding small-scale spatiotemporal variations in surface ocean carbon parameters, however satellites and other remote sensing platforms are becoming increasingly utilized for Earth system observations and can be used to help evaluate OA patterns around Hawai‘i. With the use of empirical algorithms, remote measurements of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) can be used to assess OA patterns in coastal and open-ocean waters around the state. For the purposes of this study, in situ data collected from mooring buoys and ship studies are used to develop empirical algorithms that relate satellite observations to OA conditions for the Hawaiian Islands region (HIR).