The effect of wind-wave stirring on the distribution of TSM from source (shore) to sink (open sea) can be assessed using satellite data from European Space Agency's (ESA) MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) mission (2002–2012) with 300 m resolution. We also evaluate a coastal TSM transect in Himmerfjärden bay, which is located at the Swedish East coast in the Western Gotland Basin. The Gdansk basin and the Gulf of Riga were distinguished both by relatively high TSM loads with high standard deviations, indicating strong fluvial input and/or resuspension of sediments. The total suspended matter (TSM) loads during summer vary substantially in the different basins, with the south-eastern Baltic overall being most influenced by cyanobacteria blooms. In this paper, we evaluate the distribution of TSM across the Baltic Sea using remote sensing data and statistically compare the TSM loads in the different Helsinki Commission (HELCOM)-defined basins. In coastal waters, the optical properties are strongly influenced by inorganic suspended matter, which may originate from coastal erosion and from run-off from land, streams, and rivers. Remote sensing images of TSM reveal large-and mesoscale features and currents, especially in the Southern Baltic, which are influenced both by atmospheric Rossby waves and the Coriolis force. The Baltic Sea is optically dominated by CDOM, apart from cyanobacteria blooms that often cover most of the Baltic proper during summer. In essence, it is the spectral absorption and scattering properties of each optical component that govern the underwater light field, and also the color of the sea that we can perceive, and that can also be measured remotely from space. There are three optical in-water components that, besides water itself, govern the under-water light field: phytoplankton, total suspended matter (TSM), and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). Department of Ecology Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

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