Measurement of phytoplankton photosynthesis rate using a pump-and-probe fluorometer

In this work we have studied the possibility of determining the rate of phytoplankton photosynthesis in situ using a submersible pump-and-probe fluorometer in water areas differing in their trophic level, as well as in climatic and hydrophysical characteristics. A biophysical model was used to describe the relationship between photosynthesis, underwater irradiance, and the intensity of phytoplankton fluorescence excited by an artificial light source. Fluorescence intensity was used as a measure of light absorption by phytoplankton and for assessing the efficiency of photochemical energy conversion at photosynthetic reaction centers. Parameters of the model that could not be measured experimentally were determined by calibrating fluorescence and irradiance data against the primary production measured in the Baltic Sea with the radioactive carbon method. It was shown that the standard deviation of these parameters in situ did not exceed 20%, and the use of their mean values to estimate the phytoplankton photosynthetic rate showed a good correlation between the calculated and measured data on primary production in the Baltic (r = 0.89), Norwegian (r = 0.77) and South China (r = 0.76) Seas.