Survey, 2018-08-29, Black Sea

Abkhazia 2018, eastern Black Sea coast

A LIF LiDAR survey on the Abkhazian coast, mapping chlorophyll a, CDOM and suspended matter along a three-kilometre strip of nearshore water beside a braided river delta. Suspended matter alone spans 0.2 to 2.6 mg/L inside that strip.

Published figures

Interpolated fields from the campaign, reproduced as issued. Plate titles carry the LIFL-9 under its original designation, UFL-9.

Interpolated chlorophyll a field along a three-kilometre nearshore strip, Abkhazian coast, 29 August 2018 — Fig. 1Chlorophyll a

Interpolated CDOM field along a three-kilometre nearshore strip, peaking beside the river delta, Abkhazian coast, 29 August 2018 — Fig. 2CDOM

Interpolated total suspended solids field along a three-kilometre nearshore strip, peaking beside the river delta, Abkhazian coast, 29 August 2018 — Fig. 3TSS

The eastern Black Sea coast takes short, steep rivers off the western Caucasus, and they reach the sea through braided channels across a low delta. On 29 August 2018 a LIF LiDAR mapped a three-kilometre strip of water alongshore of one of those deltas, reading chlorophyll a, CDOM and suspended matter on the same pass.

Chlorophyll a stays between 0.09 and 0.21 µg/L across the strip, closer to open Black Sea water than to a productive estuary. CDOM and suspended matter both peak at the south-eastern end nearest the delta, suspended matter running from 0.2 mg/L at the far end to above 2.6 mg/L on the outflow, and chlorophyll is at its lowest exactly there. The river adds sediment and dissolved organic material while diluting the biology, a distinction three channels measured together can make and one cannot.