Mathematical description of vertical algal accessory pigment distributions in oceans – a brief presentation

A straightforward mathematical expression for describing the vertical distributions of algal accessory pigments in oceans is presented. To this end ca 1500 empirical datasets of accessory pigment depth profiles gathered during some 200 research cruises in different oceanic regions were analysed. These data were retrieved from the bio-optical databases of SeaBASS and U.S. JGOFS published on the Internet. The statistical relationships were analysed between the concentrations of accessory pigments and the trophic indices of waters, as measured by the surface concentrations of chlorophyll a and the optical depths in different oceanic regions. A mathematical expression was established and formulas based on it were found, approximating the relations between the vertical distributions of accessory pigments and the chlorophyll a concentration. These formulas can be used to model the species composition of algae in different parts of the ocean and in remote sensing algorithms.