A pump-and-probe (P&P) airborne LIDAR has been recently developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It provides remote measurement of phytoplankton photosynthetic variables along with pigment and organic matter fluorescence, down-welling and upwelling hyperspectral measurements and sea surface temperature. The utilization of an airborne platform provides for rapid remote characterization of phytoplankton photosynthetic activity, biomass and diversity over large aquatic areas. The P&P LIDAR technique is one of the first practical implementations of 'superactive' remote sensing. This presentation summarizes results of six airborne measurement campaigns conducted in 1999-2002 in the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, Middle Atlantic Bight, and Gulf of Mexico. The P&P technology has been complemented by a Laser Phytoplankton Analyzer (LPA), a shipboard laser fluorometer dedicated to technological advancement in pigment analysis that will be implemented in future LIDAR systems. It combines high-resolution spectral measurements of phytoplankton pigment fluorescence excited at several selected wavelengths with active assessment of the physiological status of the phytoplankton photosynthetic apparatus. Emission/excitation measurements provide a potential for assessing concentrations of photosynthetic accessory pigments (Chlorophyll a, b, c, photosynthetic carotenoids and phycobilins) and identifying major phytoplankton functional groups. The LPA was extensively tested in laboratory experiments with phytoplankton cultures and their mixtures. In November 2002, the LPA was utilized for pigment fluorescence analysis of natural phytoplankton over a range if environmental conditions on a research cruise in the Middle Atlantic Bight and Delaware Bay.
Saturating-flash fluorescence techniques are used to monitor the state of the photosynthetic apparatus in phytoplankton under natural conditions. At present these are bulk water measurements, which produce estimates of average properties of all the fluorescent particles present in a sample. Here we describe an improved approach for single-cell measurements of phytoplankton. We have combined individual- cell 'pump-during-probe' measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence induction on the time scale of 30 to 100 microseconds with flow cytometric characterization of each cell, to obtain population-specific photosynthetic characteristics. The results provide information about the potential quantum yield of photochemistry, the fraction of functional reaction centers, and the functional absorption cross section for photosystem 2.
The analysis of diel variations in fluorescence yield of chlorophyll-(alpha) (Chl-(alpha) ) in vivo is presented in the paper. We rely on recent field observations and laboratory studies, as well as on the biophysical description of the relationship between photosynthesis and Chl- (alpha) fluorescence. The variations in fluorescence yield due to `instant' changes and diurnal variations in ambient irradiance can be explained as the manifestations of `photochemical' and `non-photochemical' quenching of Chl-(alpha) fluorescence, respectively. Field studies of the diel variability in Chl-(alpha) fluorescence were carried out with a shipborne lidar system in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas, and in the Atlantic Ocean. As predicted by the model, we observed the maximal values of Chl-(alpha) fluorescence yield in the near-surface layer at night and its decrease in the noon. The max/min ratio varied from 3 to 1, depending on environmental conditions and, thus, on the functional state of photosynthetic apparatus. Non-photochemical mechanisms of `photoinhibitory' and energy-dependent quenching were found to be the major mechanisms of regulation of Chl-(alpha) fluorescence yield at a diurnal scale.
The potential role of lidar technique in the system of biomonitoring of the sea and difficulties of data interpretation are discussed in the paper. Recent development of lidar implementation of pump-and-probe technique may be considered as a step toward solution of some related problems. This novel lidar technique may be classified as `super-active.' The pump-and-probe shipboard lidar system is described in the paper. The results of field tests and applications (the North-Western Atlantic, 1990; the Mediterranean Sea, 1991) of the developed technique in biological oceanography are discussed. The horizontal distributions of phytoplankton photosynthetic activity and chlorophyll fluorescence in synoptic and meso-scales, as well as correlation with hydrological structures and diurnal variations of measured characteristics, were studied. The problems of future development are discussed.
The results of simultaneous lidar monitoring of phytoplankton (PP) and organic matter (OM) horizontal distributions in the subsurface layer of the Baltic Sea are presented in the paper. A special shipboard lidar system has been developed. Total length of the monitoring route was 8390 km. The horizontal distributions of near-surface PP and OM for the second half of May and the first ten days of June were reconstructed using the data obtained. The polluted areas near the industrially active regions were detected. Diurnal rhythms of PP fluorescence were measured in situ by lidar. It proved the necessity of adjustment of lidar data for such diurnal variations. The temporal divergence of detected structures was explored. For most parts of the area, averaged time of divergence for phytoplankton horizontal distribution was estimated as 1.2% per day.
New results of application of laser saturation fluorometry, relying on the measurement and analysis of nonlinear characteristics of laser-induced chlorophyll-a fluorescence, for study of primary photosynthesis processes and diagnostics of unfavorable environmental influences (nutrients depletion; presence of herbicides, heavy metal ions, etc.) on alga photosynthetic apparatus are reported. Mechanisms of the changes in fluorescent characteristics under these influences as well as structural and functional modifications to photosynthetic apparatus, causing these changes, are analyzed. It is shown that the laser saturation fluorometry permits to selectively identify different environmental influences oppressing photosynthesis.
The paper is devoted to results of lidar technique application for ecological investigation in the Russian coastal zone of the Black Sea in August of 1991. The shipboard lidar system for remote sensing of phytoplankton and organic admixtures (dissolved organic matter and oil- products) is described. The features of horizontal distributions of chlorophyll-a and organic matter in local and mesoscales are discussed. The relationship between these features and anthropogenic (industrial activity, pollutions) and natural influences (rivers, etc.) are analyzed.
Mechanisms of solar illumination influence on phytoplankton chlorophyll-a fluorescence and photosynthetic activity were investigated in situ by means of lidar implementation of the pump-and-probe technique. It has been found that for subsurface phytoplankton the main mechanisms of sunlight regulation were photoinhibition of primary photosynthesis processes by excessive light, dominating at illuminations more than 40 klx, and `energy-dependent' fluorescence quenching, at illuminations 5 - 20 klx. The potential role of other regulating mechanisms (photophosphorylation of pigment-protein complexes, spillover, xanthophyll cycle, lipids, and pigments photodestruction) are discussed and analyzed.
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