Correlation between Atmospheric Turbidity and Water Turbidity

Abstract

The interaction between atmospheric turbidity and water turbidity is an important factor in meteorology, climatology, limnology, and oceanography, with important applications in air and water pollution monitoring. Understanding their correlation provides insights into coupled atmosphere–hydrosphere processes affecting coastal environments. This study examined the seasonal and inter annual correlation between atmospheric turbidity, expressed by the Linke turbidity factor (TL), and water turbidity at two coastal stations in Lagos, Nigeria. Three years of data (October 2007–September 2010) were analyzed for NIOMR Jetty and Victoria Beach. Water turbidity was compared against atmospheric turbidity indices for both wet and dry seasons. The correlation results between atmospheric turbidity and water turbidity for Victoria Beach Section, and NIOMR Jetty revealed distinct seasonal and spatial variations. During the dry season, the correlation coefficients for Victoria Beach Section (–0.137, –0.66 and –0.803), indicated moderate to strong negative correlations, suggesting that as atmospheric turbidity increased, water turbidity decreased. For the NIOMR Jetty, the correlation coefficients (–0.44, –0.68 and 0.032) showed predominantly negative to negligible relationships, indicating that variations in atmospheric turbidity have little consistent effect on water turbidity during the dry period. During the wet season, the correlation coefficients for Victoria Beach Section (0.661 ,0.46 and–0.19) and NIOMR Jetty (0.688, –0.18 and 0.51) reveal mostly moderate positive correlations, suggesting that increased atmospheric turbidity corresponds with increased water turbidity, likely due to rainfall-induced run off and sediment loading. Finally, the findings indicated that the relationship between atmospheric and water turbidity was negative during the dry season and positive during the wet season; highlighting the role of rainfall, surface runoff, and suspended particle transport. Correlations were generally stronger in the wet season, with July showing the highest association, indicating that rainfall-driven runoff, and particulate loading jointly influenced atmospheric scattering, and water-column clarity. Seasonal variability in turbidity has significant implications for aquatic ecology, primary productivity, and recreational water use. Integrating atmospheric and hydrological parameters into monitoring frameworks can enhance pollution control, and sustainable coastal management strategies.