Hydrographic Processes in a Tropical Coastal Lagoon on Western Bay of Bengal

In this article, hydrographic processes of a tropical coastal lagoon is studied that control inherent biological mechanisms of the lagoon environment. Realizing the interest of environmentalists over physio-chemical studies of a wetland tropical wetland system on the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal, a high-resolution intensive vertical hydrographic field campaign was carried during monsoon to uncover peculiarity in vertical hydrographic processes that was long-awaited to address many environmental issues. Vertical hydrographic profiles on spatio-temporal scale were made at nine stations in a zonal direction of the Chilika lagoon system. Results of vertical variability of salinity showed the presence of higher saline water over less saline water in the central-western region. The higher and lower water temperature in the western and eastern parts of the lagoon, respectively, indicated temperature dipole between the two regions. The encapsulation of water mass having higher temperature by the water of lower temperature at the central region resulted evolution of thermal inversion. The highest dissolved oxygen concentration was observed in the sub-surface layers of the western part of the lagoon. However, a layer of near-hypoxia occurred below 1.5 m depth in the central region. This study proposes comprehensive inter-seasonal studies to address the vertical variability of biogeochemical parameters and the fate of organic flux.

Assessment of Spatial and Vertical Variability of Water Quality: Case Study of a Polymictic Polish Lake

UE regulations focus on methods of water quality monitoring and their use in rational management practices. This study investigated horizontal and vertical variations of electrical conductivity (EC), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) in a shallow polymictic lake. Monitoring of short-term variability of physical and chemical lake water parameters is a critical component in lake management, as it influences aquatic life. Based on the field research, maps of spatial distribution of the parameters were drawn. Using two methods: (1) a classical approach to water column measurements, from the top to the bottom (TB), in which the reference point is always a surface layer (SL), and (2) a newly introduced method of lake water quality monitoring based on a nearest neighbor (NN) approach; a comparison of higher and lower layers of the water column. By subtracting partial maps of spatial variability for different depths, final raster images were obtained. The NN method is rather absent in the limnology literature worldwide. Vertical and horizontal variability of the tested parameters in the polymictic, shallow Lake Bikcze (Poland) was presented in the results. In the presented paper, the commonly used TB method emphasized the role of the surface layer in shaping the variability of physicochemical parameters of lake waters. It shows a general trend of parameters’ changes from the top, to the bottom. The newly presented NN method, which has a major advantage in its simplicity and objectivity, emphasized structural differentiation within the range of variability. The nearest neighbor method was more accurate in showing the actual structure of fluctuation of parameters with higher fluctuation in the water column. Its advantage is a detailed recognition of the vertical variability of selected parameters in the water column. The method may be used regardless of the lake depth, its location in climatic zone, and/or region.

Impact of Thermohaline Conditions on Vertical Variability of Optical Properties in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea): Implications for Water Quality Remote Sensing

Vertical variability of inherent optical properties (IOPs) affect the water quality retrievals from remote sensing data. Here, we studied the vertical variability of IOPs and simulated apparent optical properties (AOPs) in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea) under three characteristic (non)stratification conditions. In the case of mixed water column, the vertical variability of optically significant constituents (OSC) and IOPs was relatively small. While in case of stratified water column the IOPs of surface layer were three times higher compared to the IOPs below the thermocline and the IOPs were strongly correlated with the physical parameters (temperature, salinity). Measurements of IOPs in stratified water column showed that the ratio of scattering (b(440)) to absorption (a(440)) changed under the thermocline (b(440)/a(440) < 1) i.e., absorption became the dominant component of attenuation under thermocline while the opposite is true for the upper layer. Simulated (from IOPs) spectral irradiance reflectance (R(λ)) and spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd(λ)) from deeper layers (below thermocline) have significantly smaller magnitude and smoother shape. This becomes relevant during upwelling events—a common process in the coastal Baltic Sea. We quantified the effect of upwelling on surface water properties using simulated AOPs. The simulated AOPs (from IOPs measurements) showed a decrease of the signal up to 68.8% and an increase of optical depth (z90(λ)) from 2.3 to 4.3 m in the green part of the spectrum in case upwelled water mass reaches the surface. In the coastal waters a vertical decrease of Kd(λ) in the PAR region (400–700 nm) by 6.8% (surface to 20 m depth) was observed, while vertical decrease of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and total suspended matter (TSM) was 31.7 and 42.1%, respectively. The ratio R(490)/R(560)≥0.77 indicates also the upwelled water mass. The study showed that upwelling is a process that, in addition to biological activity, horizontal transport of OSC, and temperature changes, alters the optical signal of surface water measured by a remote sensor. Knowledge about the vertical variability of IOPs and AOPs relation to upwelling can help the parametrisation of remote sensing algorithms for retrieving water quality estimates in the coastal regions.

Natuna Off-Shelf Current (NOC) Vertical Variability and Its Relation to ENSO in the North Natuna Sea

During the northwest monsoon (NWM), southerly flow off the Natuna Islands appeared as the extension of the turning Vietnam coastal jet, known as Natuna off-shelf current (NOC). NOC is generated by the interaction of wind stress and the North Natuna Sea’s bottom topography. The purposes of the present study is to investigate the vertical variability of NOC and its relation to El Niňo Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using Marine Copernicus reanalysis data. The vertical variability refers to the spatial distribution of NOC pattern at the surface layer, thermocline layer, and deep/bottom layer. in 2014 as representative of normal ENSO condition. To investigate the effect of ENSO, the spatial distribution of NOC in 2011 and 2016 were compared which represent the La Niňa and El Niňo conditions, respectively. The results show that NOC starts to generate at the southeast monsoon season to the transition I season and peaks in the northwest monsoon season. The occurrence of NOC is identified at all depth layers with the weakened NOC at the deep layer. Related to the ENSO effect, La Niňa tends to strengthen NOC while El Niňo tends to weaken NOC. These are releted with the strengthening and weakening northerly wind speed during La Niňa and El Niňo, Respectively. During La Niňa events, the NOC occurs more frequently than during El Niňo. Thus, beside affecting the magnitude of NOC, ENSO also influence the frequency occurrence of NOC.

The Linguistic Variability of the Kaunas District: The Basis for the Development of the "Tarmynas" Model

The article analyses the linguistic basis of the Tarmynas, the database Lithuanian local language variants. The development of the database model was based on the linguistic variability of the Kaunas district as an important zone for the development of Standard Lithuanian. Until now, the territory of the Kaunas district has not been systematically studied by dialectologists; therefore, the study is relevant in assessing the interaction between Standard language and local variants; the conclusions drawn are significant for prog-nostic models of the Lithuanian language. The analysis performed by the methods of geolinguistics research showed a significant horizontal and vertical variability of the Kaunas district. Based on the characteristics of the traditional dialects and their spread in the new dialectal structures, four linguistic areas of the Kaunas district were distinguished. Their main distinguishing features are the shortening of long vowels in unaccented inflexions and the hardening of the compounds le and lė. The influence of the local Polish dialects on the current linguistic variants was also identified. The possibilities of the explication of the dialectal phonetic features in the database are also briefly presented: transcriptions of acoustic recordings and a questionnaire about the frequency of usage of the dialectal features.