Comparison of chlorophyll concentration in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea using IRS-P4 Ocean Color Monitor, and MODIS Aqua

Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) onboard the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-P4 has been used to retrieve chlorophyll concentration in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea using a bio-optical algorithm. Cloud masking and atmospheric corrections have been performed before applying mapping function to derive chlorophyll concentration from IRS-P4 OCM data. We have retrieved chlorophyll concentration from OCM, and MODIS during the summer and winter season along the eastern and western coast of India at every 1 degree latitude at increasing distance (25, 50, 100, 150 and 200km) away from the coast as well as near river mouths for the period 2000-2003. We have also studied spatial and temporal dynamics of monthly MODIS Aqua (for period July 2002-April 2004). The seasonal dynamics of chlorophyll concentration over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea have been discussed using OCM and MODIS for both the coastal region and the open sea.