Water quality near Estonian harbours in the Baltic Sea as observed from entire MERIS full resolution archive

Variations and trends in water quality parameters (total suspended matter and coloured dissolved organic matter) were examined in five harbours in the eastern Baltic Sea using satellite imagery collected from 2002 to 2011 by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) at full spatial resolution (300×300m). In the eastern Gulf of Finland harbours (Sillamäe, Kunda) the TSM monthly variations were related to monthly mean wind speed. In Tallinn harbour, which operates >6000 vessels annually, evidence of anthropogenic impacts was identified through inter-annual TSM variations. The vessel traffic footprint was ascertained from the significant correlation (R=0.66; p=0.035) between the number of annual vessel visits and mean annual TSM concentration. In the harbour of Pärnu, located close to the river mouth, inter-annual water quality variations in terms of the CDOM concentrations were affected by the mean annual river discharge levels of the Pärnu River.