Measurement of water column primary production using photosynthesis-irradiance relations for surface phytoplankton, the vertical chlorophyll profile, and underwater light intensity

Abstract

A method has been developed to measure water column integrated primary production (PP_int) in the water column using photosynthesis-irradiance relations for surface phytoplankton, the vertical profile of chlorophyll a concentration, and the underwater light intensity. Good correlation has been found for the results calculated with this method and light dependences in situ. The advantages of this method are the independence of PP_int calculation from CTD profiling and water sampling, and thus optimization (reduction) of the station working time.