Comparison of primary productivity estimates in the Baltic Sea based on the DESAMBEM algorithm with estimates based on other similar algorithms

• Published in: Oceanologia Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 77 - 100
• Main Authors: Stramska, M, Zuzewicz, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Baltic Sea; Brackish; Marine; ocean colour; primary productivity; satellite remote sensing; ANE, Baltic Sea
• ISSN: 0078-3234
• DOI: 10.5697/oc.55-1.077

The quasi-synoptic view available from satellites has been broadly used in recent years to observe in near-real time the large-scale dynamics of marine ecosystems and to estimate primary productivity in the world ocean. However, the standard global NASA ocean colour algorithms generally do not produce good results in the Baltic Sea. In this paper, we compare the ability of seven algorithms to estimate depth-integrated daily primary production (PP, mg C/m super(2)) in the Baltic Sea. All the algorithms use surface chlorophyll concentration, sea surface temperature, photosynthetic available radiation, latitude, longitude and day of the year as input data. Algorithm-derived PP is then compared with PP estimates obtained from super(14)C uptake measurements. The results indicate that the best agreement between the modelled and measured PP in the Baltic Sea is obtained with the DESAMBEM (Development of a satelite method for Baltic ecosystem monitoring ) algorithm. This result supports the notion that a regional approach should be used in the interpretation of ocean colour satellite data in the Baltic Sea.