A series of AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) satellite
images and simultaneous ship transects in July 1992 were used to show
that surface accumulations of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in the
southern Baltic Sea can cause local increases in the satellite-derive
d sea surface temperature (SST) by up to 1.5-degrees-C. The warmer SST
is attributed to increased absorption of sunlight due to increased ph
ytoplankton pigment concentration. The distribution of surface cyanoba
cterial accumulations detected as increased reflectance in the visible
channel of the AVHRR satellite sensor was correlated with chlorophyll
concentration at 5 m depth. Warm SST anomalies ('hot spots') appeared
both in accumulations of surface-floating cyanobacteria and in areas
of high chlorophyll concentration (detected by shipboard measurements)
. The 'hot spots' followed the detailed boundaries of the cyanobacteri
al plumes and probably represented a shallow, diurnally heated top lay
er that appeared by afternoon in conditions of low wind (2 m s-1) and
weak mixing, disappeared during the night due to thermal convection an
d were hardly detectable on days with wind speed of 6 to 8 m s-1. The
vertical extension of the top diurnally heated layer was probably less
than 1 m and definitely less than 5 m, at which depth no temperature
increase was detected. It is suggested that the day/night SST differen
ce in low-wind conditions may be an indicator of near-surface phytopla
nkton pigment concentration.