Analysis of the Correlation Patterns of Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-A Concentration in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea

Chlorophyll-a concentration is among the most important parameters used to investigate the primary production in marine ecosystems. Chlorophyll-a concentration is influenced by climatic/environmental factors, including Sea Surface Temperature (SST). Satellite sensors are able to provide reliable products of chlorophyll-a concentration and SST data with an adequate spatiotemporal resolution. In this study, level 3 (resolution 4 km) MODIS monthly products of chlorophyll-a concentration and SST from year 2003 to 2018 of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea were used. The data were transformed into a raster format and the values of each pixel were extracted. Several gaps were observed in MODIS products of chlorophyll-a concentration. The Data INterpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions (DINEOF) algorithm was used to reconstruct these gaps. Pearson correlation procedure was applied to analyze the correlation between chlorophyll-a concentration and SST. Results showed that during the study period, the correlation between the two parameters was negative (-0.44 to -0.67) and significant in the most part of the study area. The correlation coefficients in December were negative (-0.67 to -0.05) and significant in the Oman Sea and the most areas of the Persian Gulf, while in July those relationships were mostly positive (0.13 to 0.64) and significant.