Quantifying absorption by aquatic particles: A multiple scattering correction for glass-fiber filters

Abstract

Absorption spectra measured for aquatic particles concentrated onto glass-fiber filters require a correction for the increase in pathlength caused by multiple scattering in the glass-fiber filter. A multiple scattering correction was calculated from optical density spectra for 48 phytoplankton cultures of seven species representing a variety of cell sizes, pigment groups, and cell-wall types. The relationship between optical density in suspensions and on filters was not wavelength-dependent. Differences between blank filters were always spectrally neutral. Small differences between relationships for single species were inconclusive. Given the absence of wavelength-dependent effects, we report a single general quadratic relationship, ODsusp(λ) = 0.378 ODfilt(λ) + 0.523 ODfilt(λ)2 (r2 = 0.988), for correcting glass-fiber filter spectra. For independent samples, the average error in predicting ODsusp(λ) with this algorithm at any wavelength was 2%. Greatest errors were in spectral regions of low absorption. Absorption spectra for particles concentrated onto glass-fiber filters can be quantitatively corrected for multiple scattering within this limit. Applicability of the algorithm to field samples of varied composition was enhanced by using a large number of spectra and a range of cell types in algorithm development.