Preliminary study on distribution of deep chlorophyll maximum and remote sensing model in the Bohai Sea of China

Special characteristics of deep chlorophyll maximum in the Bohai Sea of China are examined in this study with data from four cruises measured in June and August of 2003, and 2005 separately. Measured data of 2003 are used to construct a new blue-to-green band-ratio ocean colour model to retrieve concentrations of DCM (deep chlorophyll maximum) from above-surface remote-sensing reflectance, then measured data of 2005 are used to validate this model. The validation result demonstrates that this model generally performs well in turbid coastal water areas with depth of DCM smaller than 7m. The correlation coefficient between the model outputs and in situ data is 0.94 and the average relative error is 22.1% in June; the correlation coefficient is 0.96 and the average relative error is 9.67% in August. These results suggest that satellite sensors have the ability to detect the existence of DCM in coastal waters.