Within the paleoclimate project CONTINENT we use Sea viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data to assess information on the current behaviour of selected climate proxies in Lake Baikal, Siberia. Suitable proxies include optically-visible water constituents such as algae biomass and suspended terrigenous matter, whose dynamics reflect the present-day climate bioproductivity and the river discharge in the catchment area. Lake Baikal represents a specific bio-optical water type with high local concentrations of organic matter and low algae biomass concentrations. Field data show a remarkable influence of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on the optical properties of Lake Baikal's surface waters. For this case 2 water type, the SeaWiFS Data Analysis System’s (SeaDAS) standard atmospheric correction methods result in a considerable overestimation of pigment concentration. Here we describe how we adapted the SeaDAS software and developed techniques for a regional study on Lake Baikal. The optically interacting water constituents are decorrelated with a Maximum Noise Fraction (MNF) analysis that is a modified Principal Component Analyses (PCA). The resultant SeaWiFS PC maps of terrigenous input and phytoplankton distribution reveal the autochthonous and allochthonous influences on the CONTINENT coring sites.

---

Heim, B.; Magnussen, S.; Oberhänsli, H.; Kaufmann, H. (2004): Case 2 Lake Baikal: Analyses of SeaWiFS data within the scope of the paleoclimate project CONTINENT. EARSeL Symposium (Ghent 2003), 127-135.