Sophie Renaut

My Master thesis deals with the study of the seasonal variability of chlorophyll in the water column based on fluorescence sensors deployed on elephant seals in the Southern Ocean (off Kerguelen Island). The difficulty in obtaining in situ data in the Southern Ocean is due to the presence of sea-ice and violent storms. The deployment of sensors (CTD-Fluoro-SRDLs) on elephant seals allows us to increase the amount of available data. Since 2008, elephant seals from Kerguelen island are equipped with sensors providing depth, temperature, salinity and fluorescence data (ANR IPSOS SEAL project). The aim of this study is to asses this dataset to get climatologies of chlorophyll, salinity and temperature in different regions of the Southern Ocean. These climatologies will be used to study the seasonal and temporal distribution of the phytoplankton bloom, related to the mixed layer depth and the availability of light. They will also be compared to climatologies provided by satellites. 

Supervisor: Stéphane Blain.

Sophie Renaut
Master Sciences de l'Univers, Environnement, Ecologie
spécialité Océanographie et Environnements Marins
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6
Tel. 06.19.94.31.24
sophie_renaut @ yahoo.fr (sophie_renaut @ yahoo.fr)