were plotted based on the estimates of the average radiance for 20
20 km squares in 482 digital images of the Black Sea obtained with a SeaWiFS color scanner in 1998–2004. Significant distinctions of the annual average
distributions in the amplitude, localization, and configuration of basin-scale inhomogeneities allowed us to con-
sider these distributions as yearly spectral-radiance portraits of the Black Sea that reflect specific features of
the annual behavior of the hydrometeorological conditions over the Black Sea region. Seasonal features of the
radiance distributions related to the wind field were discovered. Substantial interannual variability in the errors
of the standard atmospheric correction algorithm resulting in an underestimation of the shortwave radiances
were revealed. It is shown that the river discharge and the stratification of the layer sensed substantially influ-
ence the yearly spectral-radiance portraits of the Black Sea.