ABSTRACT
Voluminous sets of data on marine eutrophication from many regional seas around the world require the application of data processing techniques for assessing eutrophic levels on a quantitative basis and answering a series of questions relevant to the phenomenon of eutrophication. A wide spectrum of data analysis methods is presented in the present section. A number of indicators have been used to develop scales for classifying types of water according to the trophic status; they include ecological indices, empirical indicators as well as the use of probabilistic methods. Applications of multivariate methodology mainly Principal Component Analysis, Multidimensional Scaling and Numerical Classification, cluster sampling sites according to their trophic levels and exemplify spatial trends. Geographical Information Systems provide a good working background for studying eutrophic patterns and mapping variables related to eutrophication; satellite imagery is also a valuable source of information at a large spatial scale. As marine pollution phenomena are understood and evaluated within a social, economic and environmental regime, multicriteria analysis is presented to illustrate methodological aspects at a holistic level. Potentiality, limitations and shortcomings of the methods presented in this section are discussed as well as their applications in the regional seas.
