The inherent optical properties (IOPs) of suspended particulate matter and their relations with the main biogeochemical characteristics of particles have been examined in the surface waters of the southern Baltic Sea. The empirical data were gathered at over 300 stations in open Baltic Sea waters as well as in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Gdańsk. The measurements included IOPs such as the absorption coefficient of particles, absorption coefficient of phytoplankton, scattering and backscattering coefficients of particles, as well as biogeochemical characteristics of suspended matter such as concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM), particulate organic matter (POM), particulate organic carbon (POC) and chlorophyll a (Chl a). Our data documented the very extensive variability in the study area of particle concentration measures and IOPs (up to two orders of magnitude). Although most of the particle populations encoun- tered were composed primarily of organic matter (av. POM/SPM=ca 0.8), the different particle concentration ratios suggest that the particle composition varied significantly. The relations between the optical properties and biogeochemical parameters of suspended matter were examined. We found significant variability in the constituent-specific IOPs (coefficients of variation (CVs) of at least 30% to 40%, usually more than 50%). Simple best-fit relations between any given IOP versus any constituent concentration parameter also highlighted the significant statistical errors involved. As a result, we conclude that for southern Baltic samples an easy yet precise quantification of particle IOPs in terms of the concentration of only one of the following parameters – SPM, POM, POC or Chl a – is not achievable. Nevertheless, we present a set of best statistical formulas for a rough estimate of certain seawater constituent concentrations based on relatively easily measurable values of seawater IOPs. These equations can be implemented in practice, but their application will inevitably entail effective statistical errors of estimation of the order of 50% or more.
This is the second in a series of articles, the aim of which is to derive mathematical expressions describing the vertical distributions of the concentrations of different groups of phytoplankton pigments; these expressions are necessary in the algorithms for the remote sensing of the marine ecosystem. It presents formulas for the vertical profiles of the following groups of accessory phytoplankton pigments: chlorophylls b, chlorophylls c, phycobilins, photosynthetic carotenoids and photoprotecting carotenoids, all for the uppermost layer of water in the Baltic Sea with an optical depth of τ ≈ 5. The mathematical expressions for the first four of these five groups of pigments, classified as photosynthetic pigments, enable their concentrations to be estimated at different optical depths in the sea from known surface concentrations of chlorophyll a. The precision of these estimates is characterised by the following relative statistical errors according to logarithmic statistics σ−: approximately 44% for chlorophyll b, approx. 39% for chlorophyll c, approx. 43% for phycobilins and approx. 45% for photosynthetic carotenoids. On the other hand, the mathematical expressions describing the vertical distributions of photoprotecting carotenoid concentrations enable these to be estimated at different depths in the sea also from known surface concentrations of chlorophyll a, but additionally from known values of the irradiance in the PAR spectral range at the sea surface, with a statistical error σ− of approximately 42%
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