Climatologies of phytoplankton assemblages are not only critical for the verification of Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFT)-based simulations but they also serve as a tool for identifying the environmental parameters that control the phytoplankton assemblage. Phytoplankton classes have accessory pigments that occur in a relationship with chlorophyll a, which can be exploited to quantitatively differentiate them.
The main goals of this project are to maintain, enhance and probe the recently compiled Global Phytoplankton Assemblage Distribution (GloPAD) database, and to use it to evaluate ocean model simulations, particularly those from the GREENCYCLES MAREMIP project. The student will be responsible for updating and extending the GloPAD database as well as improve the methods used to derive the phytoplankton assemblage composition from it. The student will also extend the analysis in order to derive an understanding how the various oceanographic conditions determine the variability and structure of the phytoplankton assemblage. These results will then be used to evaluate the performance of marine ecosystem models (PISCES, PlankTOM, BEC, etc.) containing multiple phytoplankton functional types (PFT) in present day conditions (1996-2007).
The PhD student will be based at ETH but will collaborate with the group at the University of East Anglia (UEA) to benefit from their expertise in determining phytoplankton assemblage from microscopic data, as the latter are the most important method to validate the pigment-derived phytoplankton assemblages. An intense exchange is envisioned with the modeling groups at UEA and in Paris (CEA) in the context of the MAREMIP project, for which the student will provide the observational constraints (phytoplankton assemblage, nutrients, etc) for the evaluation of the PFT models PISCES, PlankTOM, and BEC.
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