Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea

Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) plays a vital role in assessing environmental health and understanding the response of marine ecosystems to physical factors and climate change. In situ sampling, remote sensing, and moored buoys or floats are commonly employed methods for obtaining Chl-a in marine science rese...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weiwei Fang, Ao Li, Haoyu Jiang, Chan Shu, Peng Xiu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1528921/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850025101273071616
author Weiwei Fang
Ao Li
Ao Li
Haoyu Jiang
Haoyu Jiang
Chan Shu
Peng Xiu
author_facet Weiwei Fang
Ao Li
Ao Li
Haoyu Jiang
Haoyu Jiang
Chan Shu
Peng Xiu
author_sort Weiwei Fang
collection DOAJ
description Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) plays a vital role in assessing environmental health and understanding the response of marine ecosystems to physical factors and climate change. In situ sampling, remote sensing, and moored buoys or floats are commonly employed methods for obtaining Chl-a in marine science research. Although in situ sampling, buoys, and floats could provide accurate data, they are limited by the spatial and temporal resolution. Remote sensing offers continuous and broad spatial coverage, while it is often hindered by cloud cover in the South China Sea (SCS). This study discussed the feasibility of a predictive model by linking the physical factors [e.g., wind field, surface currents, sea surface height (SSH), and sea surface temperature (SST)] with surface Chl-a in the SCS based on the ResUnet. The ResUnet architecture performs well in capturing non-linear relationships between variables, with the model achieving a prediction accuracy exceeding 90%. The results indicate that (1) the combination of oceanic dynamical and meteorological data could effectively estimate the Chl-a based on deep learning methods; (2) the combination of meteorological and SST effectively reproduces Chl-a in the northern SCS, while adding surface currents and SSH improves model performance in the southern SCS; (3) With the addition of surface currents and SSH, the model effectively captures the high Chl-a patches induced by eddies. This research presents a viable method for estimating surface Chl-a concentrations in regions where they are highly correlated with dynamic factors, using deep learning and comprehensive oceanic and atmospheric data.
format Article
id doaj-art-409b6a7cea03489f87c8b490054ee977
institution DOAJ
issn 2296-7745
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Marine Science
spelling doaj-art-409b6a7cea03489f87c8b490054ee9772025-08-20T03:00:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-03-011210.3389/fmars.2025.15289211528921Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China SeaWeiwei Fang0Ao Li1Ao Li2Haoyu Jiang3Haoyu Jiang4Chan Shu5Peng Xiu6State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, ChinaCollege of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, ChinaShenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaCollege of Mathematics and Statistics, Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, ChinaChlorophyll-a (Chl-a) plays a vital role in assessing environmental health and understanding the response of marine ecosystems to physical factors and climate change. In situ sampling, remote sensing, and moored buoys or floats are commonly employed methods for obtaining Chl-a in marine science research. Although in situ sampling, buoys, and floats could provide accurate data, they are limited by the spatial and temporal resolution. Remote sensing offers continuous and broad spatial coverage, while it is often hindered by cloud cover in the South China Sea (SCS). This study discussed the feasibility of a predictive model by linking the physical factors [e.g., wind field, surface currents, sea surface height (SSH), and sea surface temperature (SST)] with surface Chl-a in the SCS based on the ResUnet. The ResUnet architecture performs well in capturing non-linear relationships between variables, with the model achieving a prediction accuracy exceeding 90%. The results indicate that (1) the combination of oceanic dynamical and meteorological data could effectively estimate the Chl-a based on deep learning methods; (2) the combination of meteorological and SST effectively reproduces Chl-a in the northern SCS, while adding surface currents and SSH improves model performance in the southern SCS; (3) With the addition of surface currents and SSH, the model effectively captures the high Chl-a patches induced by eddies. This research presents a viable method for estimating surface Chl-a concentrations in regions where they are highly correlated with dynamic factors, using deep learning and comprehensive oceanic and atmospheric data.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1528921/fullResUnetchlorophyll-adeep learningSouth China Seaphysical factors
spellingShingle Weiwei Fang
Ao Li
Ao Li
Haoyu Jiang
Haoyu Jiang
Chan Shu
Peng Xiu
Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
Frontiers in Marine Science
ResUnet
chlorophyll-a
deep learning
South China Sea
physical factors
title Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
title_full Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
title_fullStr Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
title_full_unstemmed Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
title_short Leveraging ResUnet, oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll-a estimations in the South China Sea
title_sort leveraging resunet oceanic and atmospheric data for accurate chlorophyll a estimations in the south china sea
topic ResUnet
chlorophyll-a
deep learning
South China Sea
physical factors
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1528921/full
work_keys_str_mv AT weiweifang leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT aoli leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT aoli leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT haoyujiang leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT haoyujiang leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT chanshu leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea
AT pengxiu leveragingresunetoceanicandatmosphericdataforaccuratechlorophyllaestimationsinthesouthchinasea