Assimilation modeling and MODIS color scanner data to obtain continuous information about the thermohaline structure in the Sea of Azov

Abstract

A method based on the use of statistical models and mathematical procedures to obtain regular information on the temperature and salinity of the Sea of Azov in the form of maps of their vertical and surface distribution is proposed. We used the measurements of temperature and salinity for the period 1913–2012 and the observations data from MODIS-Aqua/Terra instruments regularly passing over the Sea of Azov, and the simulation results of three-dimensional hydrodynamic Princeton Ocean Model supplemented by mathematical procedures. The possibility of the operative recovery of salinity values is based on regression statistics on the bio-optical characteristics index34 = RRS(531)/RRS(488) and bbp(555). They are obtained from remote sensing observations and indicate the total absorption of light and its scattering by suspended particles in top layer of water.