Modeling the environmental/optical relation in near shore regions

摘要

Abstract: Fresh water runoff into the ocean from rivers and estuaries contains colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) that strongly affects optical absorption. If conservative mixing occurs between these fresh water plumes and the surrounding high silinity/low CDOM oceanic waters, then a linear relationship should exist between salinity and optical absorption, enabling remote mapping of the plume's dispersion. In this study we test this relationship in the near shore region with optical absorption and salinity time series taken during four different experiments in separate locations and separate seasons. Our conclusion is that in very near shore regions, away from the immediate river runoff, the conservative mixing relationship is easily violated. !2