Characterization of Optical Attenuation by Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) in the Red Sea

Abstract

Optical properties of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) control the downward irradiance in the ultraviolet and visible range of the electromagnetic radiation. CDOM is a strong absorber in shorter wavelengths (ultraviolet light) with steeper spectral slopes in the open ocean. Despite the importance of CDOM in understanding physical and biogeochemical processes in the marine environment, in situ measurements of optical properties in the Red Sea are sparse. This study comprises CDOM absorption from two different instruments (i.e. a spectrophotometer and WET Labs ac-s sensor), and assesses the variations in optical properties of CDOM in the Red Sea using data collected in 2014 and 2015. Three global inversion algorithms (Garver-Siegel-Maritorena model - GSM, Quasi-Analytical Algorithm - QAA, and the Constrained Linear-Matrix inversion model - CLM) were applied to recent data collected in the Red Sea, providing the comparison at five key selected wavelengths (412, 443, 490, 510, and 555 nm) demonstrated that in situ aCDOM values were higher than the values predicted from the three inversion algorithms and leads to underestimating in situ measurements. This finding is consistent with the conclusion of Brewin et al. (2015) that overestimation of chlorophyll in the Red Sea could be due to excessive CDOM.