Analysis of trends and spatial and temporal variability of chlorophyll a concentration in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

Chl a is the main pigment of phytoplankton, which is an indicator of phytoplankton biomass and reflects the primary production in the marine environment. In this study, level 3 (4 km) data of Chl a concentration of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea for the period of 2003- 2018 were used. The data was converted to raster format in ArcGIS10.5 environment and then the numerical values of each pixel were extracted in R (version 4.0.2). Missing data were observed in Chl a data, to solve this problem, DINEOF algorithm was applied and non-parametric Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Stimulator tests were used to analyze Chl a concentration trends. The results showed that the maximum concentration of Chl a is in September (0.09 to 18.75 mg / m3) and October (0.23 to 18.03 mg / m3) and the minimum concentration of Chl a in May (0.22 to 5.74 mg / m3) and June (0.20 to 5.12 mg / m3). The trend of Chl a concentration variability over the study period was negative in most areas and not significant. These analyses provide an overall description of Chl a concentration variability in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea based on satellite observations; however, further investigations based on in situ observations are needed to achieve better understanding of the patterns of of Chl a concentration alterations.