Recommendations for obtaining unbiased chlorophyll estimates from in situ chlorophyll fluorometers: A global analysis of WET Labs ECO sensors

Type Article
Date 2017-06
Language English
Author(s) Roesler CollinORCID1, Uitz Julia2, Claustre HerveORCID2, Boss EmmanuelORCID3, Xing Xiaogang4, Organelli EmanueleORCID2, 5, Briggs Nathan2, Bricaud Annick2, Schmechtig CatherineORCID6, Poteau AntoineORCID2, D'Ortenzio Fabrizio2, Ras Josephine2, Drapeau Susan1, Haentjens NilsORCID3, Barbieux Marie2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Bowdoin Coll, Dept Earth & Oceanog Sci, Brunswick, ME 04011 USA.
2 : UPMC Univ Paris06, Sorbonne Univ, CNRS, OOV,LOV, Villefranche Sur Mer, France.
3 : Univ Maine, Sch Marine Sci, Orono, ME USA.
4 : State Ocean Adm, Inst Oceanog 2, State Key Lab Satellite Ocean Environm Dynam, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Peoples R China.
5 : Plymouth Marine Lab, Plymouth, Devon, England.
6 : UPMC Univ, Sorbonne Univ, Paris 06, CNRS,UMS 3455,OSU Ecce Terra, Paris, France.
Source Limnology And Oceanography-methods (1541-5856) (Wiley), 2017-06 , Vol. 15 , N. 6 , P. 572-585
DOI 10.1002/lom3.10185
WOS© Times Cited 170
Abstract

Chlorophyll fluorometers provide the largest in situ global data set for estimating phytoplankton biomass because of their ease of use, size, power consumption, and relatively low price. While in situ chlorophyll a (Chl) fluorescence is proxy for Chl a concentration, and hence phytoplankton biomass, there exist large natural variations in the relationship between in situ fluorescence and extracted Chl a concentration. Despite this large natural variability, we present here a global validation data set for the WET Labs Environmental Characterization Optics (ECO) series chlorophyll fluorometers that suggests a factor of 2 overestimation in the factory calibrated Chl a estimates for this specific manufacturer and series of sensors. We base these results on paired High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and in situ fluorescence match ups for which non-photochemically quenched fluorescence observations were removed. Additionally, we examined matchups between the factory-calibrated in situ fluorescence and estimates of chlorophyll concentration determined from in situ radiometry, absorption line height, NASA's standard ocean color algorithm as well as laboratory calibrations with phytoplankton monocultures spanning diverse species that support the factor of 2 bias. We therefore recommend the factor of 2 global bias correction be applied for the WET Labs ECO sensors, at the user level, to improve the global accuracy of chlorophyll concentration estimates and products derived from them. We recommend that other fluorometer makes and models should likewise undergo global analyses to identify potential bias in factory calibration.

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Roesler Collin, Uitz Julia, Claustre Herve, Boss Emmanuel, Xing Xiaogang, Organelli Emanuele, Briggs Nathan, Bricaud Annick, Schmechtig Catherine, Poteau Antoine, D'Ortenzio Fabrizio, Ras Josephine, Drapeau Susan, Haentjens Nils, Barbieux Marie (2017). Recommendations for obtaining unbiased chlorophyll estimates from in situ chlorophyll fluorometers: A global analysis of WET Labs ECO sensors. Limnology And Oceanography-methods, 15(6), 572-585. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10185 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00384/49552/