Space Monitoring of Pollution of the Russian Sector of the Azov–Black Sea Basin in 2008

A. I. Bedritskii, V. V. Asmus, V. A. Krovotyntsev, O. Yu. Lavrova, and A. G. Ostrovskii

Technology of space monitoring of the state of water bodies and results of its application for studying the Azov–Black Sea basin in 2008 are considered. Based on the processing of more than 1000 satellite images and ground-based station data, basic characteristic features of the marine environmental pollution are determined which are connected with suspension dispersion, phytoplankton and algae growth, ship dumping of oil products (more than 62 oil patches were revealed), etc. The influence of dynamic structures in the coastal zone on the spatiotemporal distribution of the sea surface pollution parameters, and their contribution to mechanisms of water purification and self-purification are estimated. In particular, new data are obtained about the evolution of “Caucasian anticyclones,” about the dates of intensification of the Main Black Sea Current, and about features of coccolithophore bloom in the abyssal area of the Black Sea, etc.