Feasibility Study of Climatological Variability Monitoring Using OSMI and EOS Data

Dramatic changes in the patterns of satellite-derived pigment concentrations, sea-level height anomaly, sea surface temperature anomaly, and zonal wind anomaly are observed during the 1997-1998 El Nino. By some measures, the 1997-1998 El Nino was the strongest of the 20$^{th}$ century. A very strong El Nino developed during 1997 and matured late in the year. A dramatic recovery occurred in mid-1998 and led to a La Nina conditions. The largest spatial extent of the phytoplankton bloom was followed recovery from El Nino over the equatorial Pacific. The evolution towards a warm episode (El Nino) continued in the equatorial Pacific from March 2002 and further development toward mature El Nino conditions may be possible in late 2002. The OSMI (Ocean Scanning Multispectral Imager) data can be used for detection of dramatic changes in the patterns of pigment concentration during next El Nino.