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Recent advances in hydrologic optics provide a potential tool for extracting maps of optical properties of optically significant constituents. During summer experiments in the northern South China Sea, a procedure for inverting optical properties in optically complex coastal upwelling waters was performed. We tested an optical inversion model (OIM) that provides estimates of the absorption attributable to optically significant constituents (including phytoplankton, non-algal particles (NAP), colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)), as well as the chlorophyll a concentration and the phytoplankton size class, from the total spectral absorption. The OIM provided reasonable estimates of these bio-optical products, and attempts to invert the bio-optical properties in the coastal upwelling were successful. Several bio-optical parameters displayed robust relationships to the hydrologic characteristics. The biomass was strongly enhanced in the upwelling, where the phytoplankton population was dominated by the microphytoplankton. The inherent optical properties in the surface waters delivered distinct responses to the coastal upwelling. The distribution of backscattering ratios and particulate size distribution slopes indicated that the offshore surface waters were mainly dominated by small organic NAP, while the upwelling surface water was characterized by larger particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]