Spatial-Temporal Change of Phytoplankton Biomass in the East China Sea with MODIS Data

A ten-year chlorophyll- a concentration dataset from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) were used to analyze the variation of phytoplankton biomass and its potential relation with climate in the East China Sea. The result indicated that the phytoplankton biomass generally had a regular pattern every year, and phytoplankton bloom mainly occurred between May and July. The highest phytoplankton biomass appeared near the Yangtze River Estuary. The lowest phytoplankton biomass located near the Taiwan Strait. In general, the starting bloom time was earlier in the south than in the north, and the span time of the former was also longer. During the recent ten years, the phytoplankton biomass around the Yangtze River Estuary decreased obviously. The change of phytoplankton biomass was found to be related with the Niño 3.4 Index. The correlation between the intensity of phytoplankton bloom with the number and square of red tide were 0.63 and 0.74, respectively.