Distribution of chlorophyll $\alpha$ in the Yellow Sea

Phytoplankton communities are generally dominated by diatoms in spring and changed to nano- and picoplankton or dinoflagellates groups in summer (Anderson et al., 1994). Many phytoplankton investigators have been used to chlorophyll a as a phytoplankton biomass, as all the phytoplankton contain (Cullen, 1982). The studies of population compositions, primary productivity, chlorophyll a of phytoplankton in the Yellow Sea have been conducted mainly in bays and estuaries with a few studies in the central area of Yellow Sea. This study is to understand the relationship between the environmental factors and cholrophyll a concentration of phytoplnakton in terms of the area and depth in the Yellow Sea and also to identify the characteristics of phytoplankton populations occurring at the most productive periods throughout the yera.