Assessing temporal variation of coloured dissolved organic matter in the coastal waters of South Eastern Arabian Sea

Abstract

Coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) plays a major role in marine photochemical and biological processes and its optical properties are known to affect the underwater light penetration. This paper highlights in situ optical estimation and satellite retrieval of CDOM in deciphering its temporal variations in coastal waters of the South Eastern Arabian Sea. The study accentuated the source of CDOM as terrigenous origin during monsoon, of in situ productions during pre-monsoon and during post-monsoon of autochthonous-allocthonous origin. The matchup analysis for in situ and MODIS Aqua retrieved Adg443 exhibited bias which decreased by incorporating the seasonal component. The study also identified degrading bloom of Noctiluca scintillans as the source for exceptionally high CDOM in the area during January and February. The study demands to incorporate seasonal components and phytoplankton abundance while assessing the performance of CDOM algorithms in optically complex coastal waters.