bloom patchiness in that region. Another apparent feature of organic matter
pattern was the areas of essentially increased concentration of organic matter
in the vicinity of industrially active coastal regions (Stockholm, Helsinki,
the coast of the former Soviet Union).
In general, the space/time scale of measuring should match the space/time
scale of the process under investigation. From this point, the adequacy of
reconstructed spatial distributions was evaluated for this particular case.
There were more than 50 points of successive lidar measurements distributed
over investigated area. Relying on these data, the average rate of divergence
in phytoplankton distribution was roughly estimated as 1.2% per day (Chekalyuk
et al., 1992c). Thus, the contribution of temporal divergence over the area
were less than 5% in case of reconstruction presented in Fig.5b and about 18%
for the map presented in Fig.5a.
4.3. Lidar Monitoring in the Black Sea
14 parallel route measurements (each of 20 miles long) were carried out
in the Russian coastal zone of the Black Sea in August, 1991 (Chekalyuk et
al., 1992d). The distinctive feature of those measurements was concurrent
monitoring of both Chl-a and organic matter distributions. The irradiations of
the second (X = 532 nm) and the third (X = 355 nm) harmonics of YAG-laser were
used respectively for excitation of Chl-a and organic matter fluorescence.
Relying on monitoring data, the regional patterns of Chl-a concentration and
organic matter fluorescence have been reconstructed (Fig.8).
Figure 8. Distributions of Chlorophyll-a Concentration (left) and
Organic Matter Fluorescence (right). Russian Coastal Zone of the
Black Sea. August, 1991.
For the major part of the area (Fig.8a), Chl-a concentration varied from
0.02 to 0.1-0.2 mg/m 3 . The more marked increase in Chl-a concentration was
observed near towns (Tuapse, Lasarevskoe, Sochi) and river mouths (Shepsi,
Shakhe rivers). The analysis has shown, that the local increase of biological
productivity in the Sochi-Adler area was caused by the strong hurricane and
storm that had struck that region several days before the measurements. The
distribution of organic matter (Fig.8b) clearly indicates the influence of
pollution, in particular in the Tuapse-Lasarevskoe region due to runoff from
the Shepsi river. In the bay area to the north of Tuapse some marked increase
in organic matter content has been found; the small patch structure was found
relatively far from the coast without any corresponding indication at the
Chl-a pattern.