Pak. J. Bot., 47(2): 797-805, 2015.

ASSESSING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN PHYTOPLANKTON CONCENTRATION THROUGH CHLOROPHYLL-a SATELLITE DATA: A CASE STUDY OF NORTHERN ARABIAN SEA

IMRAN AHMED KHAN1, LUBNA GHAZAL2, MUDASSAR HASSAN ARSALAN3, MUHAMMAD FAHEEM SIDDIQUI4*AND JAMIL HASAN KAZMI2

Abstract: This study focuses on applying remote sensing technology to identify and assess seasonal and intra-annual variation of phytoplankton availability. A standard MODIS algorithm for Chlorophyll-a, is used to obtain a variation of phytoplankton with the help of MODIS time series images from April 2011 to March 2012 that describe the situation for a whole year, we also used periodical data for each three months, i.e., from April 2011 to June 2011, July 2011 to September 2011, October 2011 to December 2011 and finally January 2012 to March 2012. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), products were retrieved from the sensor data that demonstrates the spatio-temporal variability of phytoplankton concentration in the northern Arabian sea near the coastline and open sea water of Pakistan, India, Iran and Oman. High concentration of Chl-a, were observed during two periods August to September and February to March respectively. It was also revealed that Chl-a, concentration was almost identical between the latitude 20 and 21 degrees N throughout the year.

Key words: Phytoplankton, Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Spatio-temporal, MODIS algorithm, Remote sensing monitoring, Arabian sea, Marine plants.

1Govt. Degree Science & Commerce College Landhi, Korangi 6 Karachi,

Department of Geography, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

2Department of Geography, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

3Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

4Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

*Corresponding author e-mail: mfsiddiqui2011@yahoo.com; imranak32@hotmail.com