Chlorophyll a

About: Chlorophyll a is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5266 publications have been published within this topic receiving 189997 citations.

Ocean Color Chlorophyll Algorithms for SEAWIFS

Abstract: A large data set containing coincident in situ chlorophyll and remote sensing reflectance measurements was used to evaluate the accuracy, precision, and suitability of a wide variety of ocean color chlorophyll algorithms for use by SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor). The radiance-chlorophyll data were assembled from various sources during the SeaWiFS Bio-optical Algorithm Mini-Workshop (SeaBAM) and is composed of 919 stations encompassing chlorophyll concentrations between 0.019 and 32.79 μg L−1. Most of the observations are from Case I nonpolar waters, and ∼20 observations are from more turbid coastal waters. A variety of statistical and graphical criteria were used to evaluate the performances of 2 semianalytic and 15 empirical chlorophyll/pigment algorithms subjected to the SeaBAM data. The empirical algorithms generally performed better than the semianalytic. Cubic polynomial formulations were generally superior to other kinds of equations. Empirical algorithms with increasing complexity (number of coefficients and wavebands), were calibrated to the SeaBAM data, and evaluated to illustrate the relative merits of different formulations. The ocean chlorophyll 2 algorithm (OC2), a modified cubic polynomial (MCP) function which uses Rrs490/Rrs555, well simulates the sigmoidal pattern evident between log-transformed radiance ratios and chlorophyll, and has been chosen as the at-launch SeaWiFS operational chlorophyll a algorithm. Improved performance was obtained using the ocean chlorophyll 4 algorithm (OC4), a four-band (443, 490, 510, 555 nm), maximum band ratio formulation. This maximum band ratio (MBR) is a new approach in empirical ocean color algorithms and has the potential advantage of maintaining the highest possible satellite sensor signal: noise ratio over a 3-orders-of-magnitude range in chlorophyll concentration.

Temperature and phytoplankton growth in the sea

Abstract: The variation in growth rate with temperature of unicellular algae suggests that an equation can be written to describe the maximum expected growth rate for temperatures less than 40°C. Measured rates of phytoplankton growth in the sea and in lakes are reviewed and compared with maximum expected rates. The assimilation number (i.e., rate of photosynthetic carbon assimilation per weight of chlorophyll a) for phytoplankton photosynthesis is related to the growth rate and the carbon/chlorophyll a ratio in the phytoplankton. Since maximum expected growth rate can be estimated from tempera­ ture, the maximum expected assimilation number can also be estimated if the carbon/ chlorophyll a ratio in the phytoplankton crop is known. Many investigations of phytoplankton photosynthesis in the ocean have included measures of the assimilation number, while fewer data are available on growth rate. Assimilation numbers for Antarctic seas are low as would be expected from the low ambient temperatures. Tropical seas and temperate waters in summer often show low assimilation numbers as a result of low ambient nutrient concentrations. However, coastal estuaries with rapid nutrient regeneration processes show seasonal variations in the assimilation number with temperature which agree well with expectation. The variation in maximum expected growth rate with temperature seems a logical starting point for modeling phytoplankton growth and photosynthesis in the sea.