Overview

The Satellite Ocean colour and Phytoplankton Ecology group (SOPhyE) primarily works in the fields of biological oceanography, bio-optics, and satellite remote sensing of ocean colour, continuing the activities of the remote sensing group created in the late 90’s at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, NS. SOPhyE’s expertise spans a wide spectrum from: 1) studying phytoplankton community structure on the Scotian Shelf and Labrador Sea, including the impacts of climate change; 2) developing satellite ocean colour algorithms to infer phytoplankton biomass, assemblage, and primary production in the Northwest Atlantic, and; 3) using high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery to derive coastal bottom-habitat types. SOPhyE’s work supports DFO’s mandate and several programs, such as the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP), the Atlantic Zone Off-Shelf Monitoring Program (AZOMP), the Bedford Basin Monitoring Program (BBMP), Marine Conservation Targets (MCT), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and fisheries management.

Screencap of the PhytoFit app