Indication of bottom transport in shallow marine regions based on the data of satellite ocean color scanners

By example of a testing area in the northern Caspian Sea, a case study has been conducted to examine the feasibility of indication of near-bottom water transport from the data of ocean color scanners (OCS) for the basins whose bottom is shallower than the lower limit of the water-leaving radiance origination layer. The testing area has provided the desirable diversity of radiance origination conditions owing to an isolated underwater ridge. Based on the archived materials of the OCS SeaWiFS for 2000–2004, statistics of spectral normalized water-leaving radiances of the testing area have been computed. Hypothetically, the displacements of a radiance maximum in reference to the ridge were due to different mechanisms of interaction of water motions with bottom relief and bottom sediments. The correspondence between the patterns of radiance maximum displacements and the current notions of general water transport in the vicinity of the testing area has been established. Hopefully, the archived data of OCSs can be useful for revealing the patterns of seasonal and interannual variability of the near-bottom water transport at shallows with favorable bottom properties.