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Identification of the coastal zone of the central and eastern Gulf of Finland by numerical modeling, measurements, and remote sensing of chlorophyll a

  • EUTROPHICATION IN COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS
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Abstract

A combination of numerical modeling results with measurement and satellite imagery data was used during the biologically active period for the determination of the coastal zone extent in the central and eastern Gulf of Finland. Adopting the approach that the coastal zone can be identified by the spatial distribution of biotic parameters, spatial variations and gradients of chlorophyll a (chl-a) concentrations were analyzed. The results showed that chl-a concentrations vary in a wide range over the biologically active period. During heavy blooms, the coastal zone may appear occasionally and depend on the spatial distribution of the bloom. On average, clear limits of the coastal zone could be defined for the central and eastern Gulf of Finland. In the central Gulf of Finland, water and material exchange are rather intensive, and the coastal zone is narrower than in the eastern Gulf. In the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland, chl-a concentrations were permanently high in an area of about 100 km width due to the discharge of the Neva River. The study has shown that gradients of chl-a spatial distribution can be applied for determining limits of the coastal zone extent. The standardized gradient of zero is shown to be a threshold separating the coastal zone (standardized gradients > 0) from the open sea (standardized gradients < 0).

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by Estonian Science Foundation research grants numbers 5596 and 7581 and Danish EPA project EISEMM. Measured chl-a values in a transect between Tallinn and Helsinki were provided by the Alg@line project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Systems Institute, Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 21b, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Gennadi Lessin, Viktoria Ossipova, Inga Lips & Urmas Raudsepp

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  1. Gennadi Lessin
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  2. Viktoria Ossipova
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  3. Inga Lips
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  4. Urmas Raudsepp
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Correspondence to Gennadi Lessin.

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Guest editors: J. H. Andersen & D. J. Conley

Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems: Selected papers from the Second International Symposium on Research and Management of Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems, 20–23 June 2006, Nyborg, Denmark

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Lessin, G., Ossipova, V., Lips, I. et al. Identification of the coastal zone of the central and eastern Gulf of Finland by numerical modeling, measurements, and remote sensing of chlorophyll a . Hydrobiologia 629, 187–198 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9770-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9770-4

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