CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPIPELAGIC ECOSYST EMS OF THE PACIFIC-OCEAN BASED ON THE SATELLITE AND MEASURED DATA - ABIOTIC PARAMETERS AND PRODUCTION INDEXES OF PHYTOPLANKTON

Based on the analysis of the materials collected during 11 ecosystem c ruises (1968-1992) at 220 stations, the average characteristics for se ven selected color gradations of surface chlorophyll content obtained from the satellite color maps (NASA, Nimbus-7) have been determined. T he average values of indices describing the process of photosynthesis (nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, water transparency measured b y Secchi disc, photosynthesis layer thickness, attenuation coefficient for downwelling irradiance, chlorophyll content in the productive (0- 200 m) layer, daily primary production values, daily assimilation numb ers) have been obtained for each of the color gradations connected wit h water productivity of the various geographic regions of the Pacific Ocean. It has been shown that the transitive coefficients from surface chlorophyll concentration measured from the satellite to all the list ed parameters are unequal in the waters of different color (productivi ty) and in different geographic regions, i.e., it is impossible to use the same coefficients for all water types for the purpose bf verifica tion of the satellite color maps.