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Comparison of VNIR Derivative and Visible Fluorescence Spectroscopy Methods for Pigment Estimation in an Estuarine Ecosystem: Old Woman Creek, Huron, Ohio

Bonini, Nick
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1382838748

Abstract Details

2013, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences.
This study provides a useful comparison between traditional fluorometric methods of testing for algal contamination and a newer analytical technique that has been developed for assessing water quality. This new technique, referred to as visible/near-infrared (VNIR) derivative spectroscopy, uses multivariate statistics to rapidly identify and quantify the distribution of phytoplankton in aquatic systems. Unlike traditional methods, VNIR derivative spectroscopy does not require chemical reagents can thus be considered easier, quicker, and more cost-effective to use. Samples are filtered onto a 47 mm, 0.4 um glass-fiber filter (GF/F), dried, and measured using a VNIR spectrophotometer. This results in a hyper-spectral reflectance recording for each sample (400-2500 nm). Statistics then provide a means by which to separate out important pigment classes. Reflectance data may also be converted to chlorophyll a concentrations using wavelength index numbers, allowing for independent techniques of measurement to be compared. In this study, an in-situ Hach hydrolab sensor and a Trilogy laboratory fluorometer were used to obtain direct chlorophyll a concentrations. A correlation value of 0.90 was found between these two methods. Comparison of reflectance data with Hach and Trilogy measurements also produced good results, with correlation values of 0.82 and 0.64, respectively. This study took place over the summer of 2011 in a dynamic estuary on the southern central shore of Lake Erie. A dramatic change occurred halfway through the study period when water passage into Lake Erie was prohibited due to sediment accumulation at the mouth bar. Multivariate statistics of reflectance data suggest there was a shift in which in-water constituents were responsible for determining the optical variability of the estuary when this change took place. Clay, chlorophyceae (green algae) and bacillariophyceae (diatoms) were found to be the most important in-water constituents during the full range of the study, while cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and fucoxanthin (an accessory pigment) played a lesser role. Cryptophyta was not important when the mouth bar was open but became more prominent with the closing of the mouth bar later in the summer.
Joseph Ortiz, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Elizabeth Griffith, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
David Hacker, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
155 p.
Aquatic Sciences; Environmental Studies; Geology; Limnology; Water Resource Management
VNIR derivative spectroscopy; algae; fluorescence; water quality; estuary; Old Woman Creek; Lake Erie; plant pigments; chlorophyll a

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Citations

  • Bonini, N. (2013). Comparison of VNIR Derivative and Visible Fluorescence Spectroscopy Methods for Pigment Estimation in an Estuarine Ecosystem: Old Woman Creek, Huron, Ohio [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1382838748

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bonini, Nick. Comparison of VNIR Derivative and Visible Fluorescence Spectroscopy Methods for Pigment Estimation in an Estuarine Ecosystem: Old Woman Creek, Huron, Ohio. 2013. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1382838748.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bonini, Nick. "Comparison of VNIR Derivative and Visible Fluorescence Spectroscopy Methods for Pigment Estimation in an Estuarine Ecosystem: Old Woman Creek, Huron, Ohio." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1382838748

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1382838748
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.