| Biogeochemical models of the ocean carbon cycle are frequently validated by, or tuned to,
satellite chlorophyll data. However, for climate prediction, ocean carbon cycle models are
required to accurately model the movement of carbon, not chlorophyll. Due to the
high variability of the carbon to chlorophyll ratio in phytoplankton, chlorophyll
is not a robust proxy for carbon. However, using IOP inversion algorithms it is
now possible to also derive the backscattering coefficient (bb). Using empirical
relationships between particulate organic carbon (POC) and bb, a 1-d biogeochemical
model is used to simulate bb at 490nm. The model can now be compared with either
remotely-sensed chlorophyll or bb data. Here I test (by model-tuning with a genetic
algorithm) whether using bb in conjunction with chlorophyll can help to constrain more
model parameters than using chlorophyll alone. Since there are several IOP algorithms
available for estimating bb, the consequences of the uncertainty in bb are also investigated. |