Norman B. Nelson

I am a biological oceanographer at the Institute for Computational Earth System Science, University of California, Santa Barbara. I have been at ICESS since 2000. I got my undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and received a Ph.D. from UCSB in 1994. From 1994 to 2000 I was a postdoctoral researcher and assistant researcher at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (now the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences), where I am also an adjunct researcher.

I specialize in field observations of ocean optics. My research interests include cycling of organic matter in the ocean, primary productivity, UV photochemistry and photobiology, ocean color remote sensing, and planktonic community structure. My research is funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation. A list of my current research projects can be found on the sidebars.

Lately a lot of my effort has been focused on understanding the distribution and dynamics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the global ocean. This article describes a little bit about why CDOM is interesting. CDOM controls the penetration of ultraviolet radiation into the ocean, but also provides information on deep ocean circulation and the fate of dissolved organic material in the ocean interior. We can examine the distribution of CDOM near the ocean surface using satellites, but participate in field expeditions to measure the quantity and characteristics of CDOM in the ocean interior.

I am also interested in climate-related changes in ocean ecosystems. We have been making optical observations in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda since 1992, and now have a record that is long enough to examine changes in planktonic community structure related to climate oscillators such as ENSO (El Niño) and NAO (the North Atlantic Oscillation). We are currently studying these processes with an eye toward how they might help us predict future changes related to global climate change.

In press / in review:

 

Johnsen, G., A. Bricaud, N. Nelson, B. B. Prezelin, and R. R. Bidigare, 2008: In vivo bio-optical properties of phytoplankton pigments. To appear in Phytoplankton Pigments in Oceanography, S. Roy, E. Egeland, G. Johnsen, C. Llewellyn and S. Wright (eds.) UNESCO.

Goldberg, S.J., C.A. Carlson, D.A. Hansell, N.B. Nelson, and D.A. Siegel, 2008: Temporal dynamics of dissolved combined neutral sugars and the quality of dissolved organic matter in the northwestern Sargasso Sea.  Deep-Sea Research Part I

Nelson, N.B., and P.G. Coble, 2008: Optical analysis of chromophoric dissolved organic matter. To appear in Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis, O. Wurl (editor), CRC Press.

 

Published:

 

Zafiriou, O.C., H. Xie, N.B. Nelson, R.G. Najjar, and W.Wang, 2008: Diel carbon monoxide cycling in the upper Sargasso Sea near Bermuda at the onset of spring and in midsummer.  Limnology and Oceanography, 53, 835-850 [pdf]

Siegel, D.A.., D.B. Court, D.W. Menzies, P. Peterson, S. Maritorena and N.B. Nelson, 2008: Satellite and in situ observations of the bio-optical signatures of two mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea.  Deep-Sea Research Part II, 55, 1218-1230 [pdf]

Nelson, N.B., D.A. Siegel, C.A. Carlson, C. Swan, W.M. Smethie, Jr., and S. Khatiwala, 2007: Hydrography of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the North Atlantic.  Deep-Sea Research, Part I, 54, 710-731. [pdf]

Siegel, D.A., S. Maritorena, N.B. Nelson and M.J. Behrenfeld, 2005: Independence and interdependencies of global ocean color properties; Reassessing the bio-optical assumption. Journal of Geophysical Research, 110, C07011, doi:10.1029/2004JC002527. [pdf]

Nelson, N.B., D.A. Siegel, and J.A. Yoder, 2004: The spring bloom in the northwestern Sargasso Sea: Spatial extent and relationship with winter mixing. Deep-Sea Research, Part II, 51, 987-1000.[pdf]

Nelson, N.B., C.A. Carlson, and D.K. Steinberg, 2004: Production of chromophoric dissolved organic matter by Sargasso Sea microbes. Marine Chemistry, 89, 273-287.[pdf]

Morrison, J.R., and N.B. Nelson, 2004: Seasonal cycle of phytoplankton UV absorption at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site. Limnology and Oceanography, 49, 215-224. [pdf]

Steinberg, D.K., N.B. Nelson, C.A. Carlson, and A.C. Prusak, 2004: Production of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the open ocean by zooplankton and the colonial cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 267, 45-56.[pdf]

Toole, D.A., D.J. Kieber, R.P. Kiene, D.A. Siegel and N.B. Nelson, 2003: Photolysis and the dimethylsulfide (DMS) summer paradox in the Sargasso Sea. Limnology and Oceanography, 48, 1088-1100. [pdf]

Siegel, D.A., Maritorena, S., Nelson, N.B., Hansell, D.A., Lorenzi-Kayser, M., 2002. Global distribution and dynamics of colored dissolved and detrital organic materials. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, 3228, doi:10.1029/2001JC000965. [pdf]

Nelson, N.B., and D.A. Siegel, 2002: Chromophoric DOM in the Open Ocean. In: Biogeochemistry of Marine Dissolved Organic Matter, D.A. Hansell and C.A. Carlson, eds. p. 547-578, Academic Press, San Diego, CA [pdf]

Siegel, D.A., N.B. Nelson, M.C. O'Brien, T.K. Westberry and others, 2001: The Bermuda BioOptics Project: Bio-optical modeling of primary production from space-sensible variables. Deep Sea Research, II, 48, 1865-1896. [pdf]

Nelson, N.B., N.R. Bates, D.A. Siegel and A.F. Michaels, 2001: Spatial variability of the CO₂ sink in the Sargasso Sea. Deep Sea Research, II, 48, 1801-1821. [pdf]

Dickey, T., S. Zedler, D. Frye, H. Jannasch, D. Manov, D. Sigurdson, J. D. McNeil, L. Dobeck, X. Yu, T. Gilboy, C. Bravo, S. C. Doney, D.A. Siegel and N. Nelson, 2001: Physical and biogeochemical variability from hours to years at the Bermuda Testbed Mooring: June 1994 - March 1998. Deep Sea Research, II, 48, 2105-2140. [pdf]

Nelson, N.B., D.A. Siegel, and A.F. Michaels, 1998: Seasonal dynamics of colored dissolved material in the Sargasso Sea.  Deep Sea Research, I, 45, 931-957. [pdf]