Bio-optical trends of seas around Turkey : An assessment of the spatial and temporal variability

Until present, bio-optical characteristics and their variations in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea have rarely been studied. In order to characterize the basic features of bio-optical variables found in the seas surrounding Turkey, remotely sensed data sets covering the period between September 1997 and March 2017 were studied for the purpose of this research. Chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL), absorption coefficient by colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and particulate backscattering coefficient (BBP) were both evaluated to describe their recent linear and non-linear inter-annual patterns in the sub regions of the northern Levantine Sea (LS), the eastern Aegean Sea (AS), the Marmara Sea (MS) and the southern Black Sea (BS). The results determined a highly significant and decreasing trend of CHL in the Black Sea, whilst most other regions from the seas around Turkey displayed non-significant trends. The analysis indicated that the seas around Turkey can be clustered into two regions based on their bio-optical properties; one being the Black Sea and Marmara Sea, and the second cluster being the Aegean Sea and Levantine Sea.

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Opracowanie rekordu w ramach umowy 509/P-DUN/2018 ze środków MNiSW przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (2018).