Storm impact on sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a in the Gulf of Mexico and Sargasso Sea based on daily cloud-free satellite data reconstructions

Upper ocean responses to tropical storms/hurricanes have been extensively studied using satellite observations. However, resolving concurrent sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll a (chl a) responses along storm tracks remains a major challenge due to extensive cloud coverage in satellite images. Here we produce daily cloud-free SST and chl a reconstructions based on the Data INterpolating Empirical Orthogonal Function method over a 10year period (2003-2012) for the Gulf of Mexico and Sargasso Sea regions. Daily reconstructions allow us to characterize and contrast previously obscured subweekly SST and chl a responses to storms in the two main storm-impacted regions of the Atlantic Ocean. Statistical analyses of daily SST and chl a responses revealed regional differences in the response time as well as the response sensitivity to maximum sustained wind speed and translation speed. This study demonstrates that SST and chl a responses clearly depend on regional ocean conditions and are not as universal as might have been previously suggested.