Analysis of the Correlation Patterns of Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-A Concentration in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea

Chlorophyll-a concentration is among the most important parameters used to investigate the primary production in marine ecosystems. Chlorophyll-a concentration is influenced by climatic/environmental factors, including Sea Surface Temperature (SST). Satellite sensors are able to provide reliable products of chlorophyll-a concentration and SST data with an adequate spatiotemporal resolution. In this study, level 3 (resolution 4 km) MODIS monthly products of chlorophyll-a concentration and SST  from year 2003 to 2018 of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea were used. The data were transformed into a raster format and the values of each pixel were extracted. Several gaps were observed in MODIS products of chlorophyll-a concentration. The Data INterpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions (DINEOF) algorithm was used to reconstruct these gaps. Pearson correlation procedure was applied to analyze the correlation between chlorophyll-a concentration and SST. Results showed that during the study period, the correlation between the two parameters was negative (-0.44 to -0.67) and significant in the most part of the study area. The correlation coefficients in December were negative (-0.67 to -0.05) and significant in the Oman Sea and the most areas of the Persian Gulf, while in July those relationships were mostly positive (0.13 to 0.64) and significant.

Analysis of the Correlation Patterns of Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-A Concentration in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea Keywords:

Sea surface temperature (SST) , Chlorophyll-a concentration , MODIS , Pearson correlation , Persian Gulf , دمای سطحی آب , غلظت کلروفیل a , مودیس , همبستگی پیرسون , خلیج فارس