A study of gas exchange during the transition from deep winter mixing to spring bloom in the Bay of Biscay measured by continuous observation from a ship of opportunity

Monitoring from ships of opportunity allows a wide range of parameters to be measured; thereby extending the coverage of operational oceanographic studies. Observation of dissolved oxygen using new sensors offers an effective way of monitoring changes in biological production. The limits of the application were tested following the transition from winter storms to the spring bloom (2007). Calculation of dissolved nitrogen enables changes in gas saturation due to physical and biological processes to be separated. By combining these measurements with data from numerical models and Argo floats the critical role of subsurface processes in determining rates of change at the surface can be assessed