Variability of the specific fluorescence of chlorophyll in the ocean. Part 2. Fluorometric method of chlorophyll a determination

Two methods of determining the chlorophyll a concentration in the sea have been formulated on the basis of artificially induced fluorescence measured with the aid of submersible fluorometers. The method of statistical correlation is founded on the empirical relationship between fluorescence and chlorophyll concentration. The theoretical model of fluorescence described in Part 1 of this paper (see Ostrowska et al. 2000, this volume) provides the basis of the other method, the physical method. This describes the dependence of the specific fluorescence of phytoplankton on the chlorophyll concentration, a diversity of photophysiological properties of phytoplankton and the optical characteristics of the fluorometer. In order to assess their practicability, the methods were subjected to empirical verification. This showed that the physical method yielded chlorophyll concentrations of far greater accuracy. The respective error factors of the estimated chlorophyll concentration were x = 2.07 for the correlation method and x = 1.5 for the physical method. This means that the statistical logarithmic error varies from −52 to +107% in the case of the former method but only from −33 to +51% in the case of the latter. Thus, modifying the methodology has much improved the accuracy of chlorophyll determinations.