Oregon State University in conjunction with a local small business will undertake an ocean sciences instrumentation development project to develop an in situ spectral fluorescence and absorption meter for use at sea. Specifications call for it to quantitatively measure absorption and fluorescence at multiple excitation and emission wavelengths throughout the ultraviolet and visible parts of the spectrum. The instrument will address several research areas in biological, chemical, and optical oceanography. It will facilitate measurements of the concentration and nature of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the composition of suspended matter in the water column, the rate of photosynthetic processes, the degree of light absorption in the ultraviolet (and the related problem of the potential effects of ozone depletion on biota), and the contribution of spectral absorption and fluorescence on radiative transfer. Spectral data improves upon non-spectral information by allowing accurate representation of the relationship between the depth-dependent changes in the spectral underwater light field with phytoplankton absorption and quantum yield spectra. The instrument represents new capability to help address critical questions in bio-optical oceanography and it represents an important step toward remote detection of quantities previously measured only from discrete bottle samples.
