Verification of vertically generalized production model and estimation of primary production in Sagami Bay, Japan

The Vertically Generalized Production Model (VGPM) was verified by the primary production data of the Sagami Bay, Japan. The VGPM with open ocean parameters including PBopt, maximum primary production per unit of chlorophyll a in the water column, explained only 40% of the variability of integrated primary production. Formulations of the open ocean PBopt showed no correlation with in situPBopt. Adjustment of the parameters of chlorophyll a and temperature dependent PBopt improved the estimation of integrated primary production to 47% of the variation. Vertical integration parameters of VGPM also have to be adjusted to improve the estimation. Integrated primary production calculated with a stronger light dependency and with the adjusted PBopt model can explain 74% of the variation. This model was used to estimate primary production of the Sagami Bay during 2003 with satellite data. In situ measurements on cloudy days indicate that the use of satellite data from sunny days only overestimates primary production.