Penetration of coastal waters into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea using the SeaWiFS data

Offward transport of surface coastal waters was studied in the Eastern Mediterranean from 31° to 37° N between 31° to 36° E using cluster analysis of water-leaving radiance spectra from SeaWiFS color scanner imagery for spring-summer period of 1998. Some types of spectra were found to be characteristic of products of mixing of coastal and offshore waters and served as a quasiconservative tracer of water transport. Three sectors of the eastern coastal zone supplied colored and suspended matter into the open sea areas as occasional pulse discharges of 3-5 week periodicity. The Haifa sector was the most powerful source of such matter producing traceable separate radiance inhomogeneities as far as 200 km west of Haifa. It appears that the discharges were triggered when a set of specific conditions took place and that evolution and life time of discharged waters depended on currents and horizontal mixing. Advantages of cluster approach to imagery analysis are briefly discussed.