Bio‐optical modeling of photosynthetic production in coastal waters

A physiological‐based bio‐optical model is used to estimate vertical profiles of instantaneous, diurnal, and integrated daily rates of in situ primary production throughout the water column at three stations across a coastal front. The model makes use of an empirical relationship between photosynthesis, quantum yield, and photosynthetically absorbed radiation and is a full spectral model with all relevant parameters determined as a function of wavelength. In the prior application of this bio‐optical model, parameters used to estimate quantum yield as a function of irradiance were wavelength‐independent and held constant. Here, the model is recast so that quantum yield is estimated with wavelength‐dependent photosynthesis‐irradiance parameters, Pmax the maximum rate of phytoplankton photosynthesis, and Ik the P‐I saturation parameter, which are allowed to vary with depth and time of day. Both Pmax‐dependent (assumed to be λ‐independent) and Ik‐dependent (known to be λ‐dependent) estimates of temporal/spatial changes in quantum yield were assessed. The model was tested in water masses where a net‐to‐nanoplankton transition was occurring in phytoplankton communities dominated by diatoms and prymnesiophytes. At each station there is close agreement between 14C productivity estimates derived from knowledge of diurnal patterns in P‐I parameters and productivity estimates derived from two variants of the bio‐optical model based on knowledge of spectral irradiance and phytoplankton pigmentation. The 14C and bio‐optical estimates of primary production also show similar vertical patterns for either instantaneous or daily integrated values. When compared with 14C estimates, Ik‐dependent bio‐optical estimates of photosynthetic rates give a closer match than bio‐optical estimates that are Pmax‐dependent. The model permits calculation of primary production from shipboard observations and may be useful for predicting production rates from bio‐optical data provided by untended buoys.

[1]  Raymond C. Smith,et al.  Estimation of a photon budget for the upper ocean in the Sargasso Sea , 1989 .

[2]  P. Falkowski,et al.  PHOTOADAPTATION AND THE “PACKAGE” EFFECT IN DUNALIELLA TERTIOLECTA (CHLOROPHYCEAE) 1 , 1989 .

[3]  T. Platt,et al.  Oceanic Primary Production: Estimation by Remote Sensing at Local and Regional Scales , 1988, Science.

[4]  R. Peterson,et al.  Relationship between Steady-State Fluorescence Yield and Photosynthetic Efficiency in Spinach Leaf Tissue. , 1988, Plant physiology.

[5]  T. Platt,et al.  Ocean primary production and available light: further algorithms for remote sensing , 1988 .

[6]  K. S. Baker,et al.  Optical characterization of primary productivity across a coastal front , 1987 .

[7]  H. A. Matlick,et al.  Diurnal patterns of size-fractioned primary productivity across a coastal front , 1987 .

[8]  M. Perry,et al.  Quantum yield, relative specific absorption and fluorescence in nitrogen-limited Chaetoceros gracilis , 1987 .

[9]  Karen S. Baker,et al.  Oceanic primary production estimates from measurements of spectral irradiance and pigment concentrations , 1987 .

[10]  A. Morel,et al.  Growth rate and quantum yield time response for a diatom to changing irradiances (energy and color) l , 1987 .

[11]  Helmut Maske,et al.  Specific in vivo absorption coefficient of chlorophyll a at 675 nm , 1987 .

[12]  Shubha Sathyendranath,et al.  Variations in the spectral values of specific absorption of phytoplankton , 1987 .

[13]  Dale A. Kiefer,et al.  A Model For The Use Of Satellite Remote Sensing For The Measurement Of Primary Production In The Ocean , 1986, Other Conferences.

[14]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Diurnal patterns in photosynthetic capacity and depth-dependent photosynthesis-irradiance relationships inSynechococcus spp. and larger phytoplankton in three water masses in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean , 1986 .

[15]  Motoaki Kishino,et al.  Light Utilization Efficiency and Quantum Yield of Phytoplankton in a Thermally Stratified Seai , 1986 .

[16]  J. Raven,et al.  Size dependence of growth and photosynthesis in diatoms: a synthesis , 1986 .

[17]  M. Vernet,et al.  Relationship between action spectra for chlorophyll a fluorescence and photosynthetic O2 evolution in algae , 1986 .

[18]  J. W. Brown,et al.  Phytoplankton Blooming Off the U.S. East Coast: A Satellite Description , 1985, Science.

[19]  B. Irwin,et al.  MEASURING PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACTION SPECTRA OF NATURAL PHYTOPLANKTON POPULATIONS 1 , 1985 .

[20]  Paul G. Falkowski,et al.  Growth‐irradiance relationships in phytoplankton1 , 1985 .

[21]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Observations of diet patterns of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria and nanoplankton in the Santa Barbara Channel during ‘el Niño’ , 1985 .

[22]  M. R. Abbott,et al.  Estimating ocean primary production from satellite chlorophyll - Introduction to regional differences and statistics for the Southern California Bight , 1985 .

[23]  J. Steele.  A global ocean flux study , 1984 .

[24]  J. Priscu.  In situ quantum yield of phytoplankton in a subalpine lake , 1984 .

[25]  B. Côté,et al.  Utility of the light-saturation curve as an operational model for quantifying the effects of environmental conditions on phytoplankton photosynthesis , 1984 .

[26]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Changes in Photosystem II Account for the Circadian Rhythm in Photosynthesis in Gonyaulax polyedra. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[27]  Dale A. Kiefer,et al.  A simple, steady state description of phytoplankton growth based on absorption cross section and quantum efficiency1 , 1983 .

[28]  B. Irwin,et al.  Photosynthetic parameters of arctic marine phytoplankton: Vertical variations and time scales of adaptation , 1983 .

[29]  T. Whitledge,et al.  Observations of chlorophyll concentrations off Long Island from a moored in situ fluorometer , 1983 .

[30]  Karen S. Baker,et al.  Bio-optical classification and model of natural waters. 21 , 1982 .

[31]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Diel oscillations of the photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) relationship in natural assemblages of phytoplankton , 1982 .

[32]  K. Baker,et al.  Correlation of primary production as measured aboard ship in Southern California Coastal waters and as estimated from satellite chlorophyll images , 1982 .

[33]  N. Welschmeyer,et al.  CHLOROPHYLL‐SPECIFIC PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND QUANTUM EFFICIENCY AT SUBSATURATING LIGHT INTENSITIES 1 2 , 1981 .

[34]  P. Falkowski.  Light-shade adaptation and assimilation numbers , 1981 .

[35]  André Morel,et al.  Report of the working group on water color , 1980 .

[36]  E. Laws,et al.  Nutrient‐ and light‐limited growth of Thalassiosira fluviatilis in continuous culture, with implications for phytoplankton growth in the ocean , 1980 .

[37]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Photosynthesis and chlorophyll a fluorescence rhythms of marine phytoplankton , 1980 .

[38]  B. Prézelin,et al.  CHLOROPHYLL a FLUORESCENCE OF GONYAULAX POLYEDRA GROWN ON A LIGHT‐DARK CYCLE AND AFTER TRANSFER TO CONSTANT LIGHT , 1979, Photochemistry and photobiology.

[39]  B. Shuter,et al.  A model of physiological adaptation in unicellular algae. , 1979, Journal of theoretical biology.

[40]  André Morel,et al.  Available, usable, and stored radiant energy in relation to marine photosynthesis , 1978 .

[41]  B. Prézelin,et al.  Characterization of Photosynthetic Rhythms in Marine Dinoflagellates: II. Photosynthesis-Irradiance Curves and in Vivo Chlorophyll a Fluorescence. , 1977, Plant physiology.

[42]  A. Jassby,et al.  THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND LIGHT FOR NATURAL ASSEMBLAGES OF COASTAL MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON 1 , 1976 .

[43]  J. Tyler.  The in situ quantum efficiency of natural phytoplankton populations , 1975 .

[44]  J. Kirk.  A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF ALGAL CELLS TO THE ATTENUATION OF LIGHT WITHIN NATURAL WATERS I. GENERAL TREATMENT OF SUSPENSIONS OF PIGMENTED CELLS , 1975 .

[45]  André Morel,et al.  Relation between total quanta and total energy for aquatic photosynthesis1 , 1974 .

[46]  B. Sweeney.  Rhythmic Phenomena in Plants , 1987 .

[47]  C. Lorenzen,et al.  A method for the continuous measurement of in vivo chlorophyll concentration , 1966 .

[48]  C. Yentsch,et al.  A Non-Extractive Method for the Quantitative Estimation of Chlorophyll in Algal Cultures , 1957, Nature.

[49]  L. Duysens.  Energy Transformations in Photosynthesis , 1956 .

[50]  T. Tanada.  THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY OF CAROTENOID PIGMENTS IN NAVICULA MINIMA , 1951 .

[51]  Robert Emerson,et al.  THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY OF PHYCOCYANIN IN CHROOCOCCUS, AND THE PROBLEM OF CAROTENOID PARTICIPATION IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS , 1942, The Journal of general physiology.