How do we quantify plankton?
Numerous techniques providing various measures.
Chlorophyll (a)
fluorescence, HPLC, remote sensing
Numbers
coulter counter
- by size
OPC, UH
- by species
LHPR, UH
Biomass
nets, filtered water samples
Backscatter
ADCP, echosounders
Inter-calibration remains a thorny issue.
Glossary:
HPLC – high performance liquid chromatography
OPC – optical plankton counter
UH – underwater hologrammetry
LHPR – Longhurst-Hardy Plankton Recorder
ADCP – acoustic Doppler current profiler