A preliminary study of the variation of phytoplankton absorption coefficients in the northern South China Sea

The temporal and spatial variabilities of phytoplankton absorption coefficients （a ph （λ）） and their relationships with physical processes in the northern South China Sea were examined, based on in situ data collected from two cruise surveys during May 14 to 25, 2001 and November 2 to 21, 2002. Significant changes in the surface water in a ph values and B/R ratios （a ph （440）/a ph （675）） were observed in May, which were caused by a phytoplankton bloom on the inner shelf stimulated by a large river plume due to heavy precipitation. This is consistent with the observed one order of magnitude elevation of chlorophyll a and a shift from a pico/nano dominated phytoplankton community to one dominated by micro-algae. Enhanced vertical mixing due to strengthened northeast monsoon in November has been observed to result in higher surface a ph （675） （0.002–0.006 m-1 higher） and less pronounced subsurface maximum on the outer shelf/slope in November as compared with that in May. Measurements of a ph and B/R ratios from three transects in November revealed a highest surface a ph （675） immediately outside the mouth of the Zhujiang （Pearl） River Estuary, whereas lower a ph （675） and higher B/R ratios were featured in the outer shelf/slope waters, demonstrating the respective influence of the Zhujiang River plume and the oligotrophic water of the South China Sea. The difference in spectral shapes of phytoplankton absorption （measured by B/R ratios and bathochromic shifts） on these three transects infers that picoprocaryotes are the major component of the phytoplankton community on the outer shelf/slope rather than on the inner shelf. A regional tuning of the phytoplankton absorption spectral model （Carder et al., 1999） was attempted, demonstrating a greater spatial variation than temporal variation in the lead parameter a 0 （λ）. It was thus implicated that region-based parameterization of ocean color remote sensing algorithms in the northern South China Sea was mandatory.

Variability of phytoplankton absorption in the northern South China Sea:influence of the size structure and pigment composition of algal populations

Data from three cruises conducted in the Zhujiang River （ZR）, coastal waters of Guangdong （CWGD） and the northern South China Sea （NSCS） during 2003 and 2004 were examined for assessing the relative importance of pigment composition and packaging effect in modifying the specific absorption coefficients of phytoplankton. The three survey regions differ widely in their phytoplankton community with large cells dominating the ZR and CWGD waters and small cells dominating the NSCS region. Variations in the size structure and the accessory pigments have much effect on the chlorophyll a-specific absorption coefficient of phytoplankton. The size index accounted for about 42% and 33% of the variation of the specific absorption coefficient at 440 and 675 nm, respectively. Using the multiple regression analysis approach, pigment concentrations for each sample were calculated. The accessory pigments other than chlorophyll a contribute to absorption mainly in the blue - to - green region of the spectrum and their absorptions account for about 44%, 43% and 53% on the average of the total phytoplankton absorption at 440 nm for the ZR, CWGD and NSCS regions. Among the accessory pigments, the photosynthetic carotenoids （noted PSC） play a dominant role in the ZR and CWGD waters, while in the NSCS the nonphotosynthetic carotenoids （noted PPG） as well as PSC have important contributions. Because the variations of both the size structure and accessory pigments in algal populations contributed to the variability of the specific absorption coefficient in the study regions, these factors may be considered explicitly in future bio - optical algorithms to derive chlorophyll a concentration more accurately.