A new way to look at mesoscale zooplankton distributions: an application at the Antarctic Polar Front

During the austral summer of 1996 an intensive multidisciplinary survey was carried out in the Antarctic Polar Front. In this paper, we examine the relationship between hydrographic features and the acoustic backscatter signal from a vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. We introduce two new analysis methods: mapping of depth-integrated scattering cross section and a model of the vertical zooplankton distribution through idealised population dynamics. Three distinct layers are characterised by a different balance between diel migration behaviour and direct/indirect forcing by mesoscale physical processes in the ocean.