PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY AVAILABLE RADIATION IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARABIAN SEA

In this article, we present the analysis of the photosynthetically ava ilable radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) in the eastern and central Arabian Seat 21 degrees 30' N, 64 degrees E to 12 degrees N, 74 degrees E) dur ing February-March, 1995 using data collected with quantum PAR sensor and maritime solar radiation models for clear sky, The peak values obs erved were in the range of about 1700 to 1830 mu mole s(-1)m(-2) or eq uivalent to about 365 to 435 Wm(-2), The radiative transfer models of Gregg and Carder, and Frouin et al. were used to investigate the relat ionship between the quantum and energy of solar radiation available in the PAR region, The average ratio of this quanta per energy was found to be about 4.2 mu mole W(-1)s(-1), Aerosol optical depth obtained us ing the sunphotometer at 498 nm for the region was found to vary from 0.07 to 0.19.