Date of Award
5-2014
Level of Access Assigned by Author
Campus-Only Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Oceanography
Advisor
Emmanuel Boss
Second Committee Member
Mary Jane Perry
Third Committee Member
Collin Roesler
Abstract
A global dataset of in situ particulate absorption spectra has been decomposed into component functions representing absorption by phytoplankton pigments and non- algal particles. The magnitudes of component Gaussian functions, used to represent absorption by individual or groups of pigments, are well correlated with pigment concentrations determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. We are able to predict the presence of chlorophylls a, b, and c, as well as two different groups of summed carotenoid pigments with percent errors between 30% and 57%. Existing methods of analysis of particulate absorption spectra measured in situ provide for only chlorophyll a; the method presented here, using high spectral resolution particulate absorption, shows the ability to obtain the concentrations of additional pigments, allowing for more detailed studies of phytoplankton ecology than currently possible with in-situ spectroscopy.
Recommended Citation
Palmer Chase, Alison, "An In situ Optical Method to Detect Phytoplankton Pigments" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2070.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2070