Advanced Laser Fluorescence (ALF) measurements of chlorophyll-a (Chl), phycoerythrin (PE), chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and variable fluorescence (Fv/Fm) from CCE process cruises in the California Current System, 2006 - 2012.

The Advanced Laser Fluorometry (ALF) provides spectral deconvolution (SDC) analysis of the laser-stimulated emission (LSE) excited at 405 or 532/510 nm for assessment of chlorophyll a, phycoerythrin, and chromophoric dissolved organic matter. Three spectral types of phycoerythrin are discriminated for characterization of cyanobacteria and cryptophytes in mixed phototrophic populations. The SDC analysis is integrated with measurements of variable fluorescence, Fv/Fm, corrected for the SDC-retrieved background fluorescence, BNC, for improved photophysiological assessments of phytoplankton photochemical efficiency. Fluorescence measurements are normalized to the water Raman scattering to improve the accuracy of measurements. The ALF measurements of discrete water samples from various depths were made using several ALF instrument modifications (ALF-1, ALF-T, Aquatic Laser Fluorescence Analyzer (ALFA) , or Custom Laser Analytical Spectroscopic System (CLASS)) during CCE process cruises.