Continuous absorption measurements of seawater constituents – an integrating cavity approach

Presented at AGUOcean Science Meeting 2014, 23RD-28TH February, 2014, Honolulu, HI, USA.

Measurement of light absorption in seawater is an important issue in biological oceanography, because it can provide information about the different light absorbing constituents therein. In the visible spectrum, this is mainly chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), non-living particular matter, and phytoplankton with its various pigments. Often, absorption measurements of natural samples are complicated by low concentration of absorbing material in the water and light scattering on particles. These problems can be overcome by systems based on integrating cavities like the point-source integrating cavity absorption meter (PSICAM).