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Absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter: implications for the monitoring of water quality in a large subtropical reservoir

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Abstract

The development of techniques for real-time monitoring of water quality is of great importance for effectively managing inland water resources. In this study, we first analyzed the absorption and fluorescence properties in a large subtropical reservoir and then used a chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence monitoring sensor to predict several water quality parameters including the total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and CDOM fluorescence parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) components in the reservoir. The CDOM absorption coefficient at 254 nm (a(254)), the humic-like component (C1), and the tryptophan-like component (C3) decreased significantly along a gradient from the northwest to the lake center, northeast, southwest, and southeast region in the reservoir. However, no significant spatial difference was found for the tyrosine-like component (C2), which contributed only four marked peaks. A highly significant linear correlation was found between the a(254) and CDOM concentration measured using the CDOM fluorescence sensor (r 2 = 0.865, n = 76, p < 0.001), indicating that CDOM concentrations could act as a proxy for the CDOM absorption coefficient measured in the laboratory. Significant correlations were also found between the CDOM concentration and TN, TP, COD, DOC, and the maximum fluorescence intensity of C1, suggesting that the real-time monitoring of CDOM concentrations could be used to predict these water quality parameters and trace the humic-like fluorescence substance in clear aquatic ecosystems with DOC <2 mg/L and total suspended matter (TSM) concentrations <15 mg/L. These results demonstrate that the CDOM fluorescence sensor is a useful tool for on-line water quality monitoring if the empirical relationship between the CDOM concentration measured using the CDOM fluorescence sensor and the water quality parameters is calibrated and validated.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the help of Wu Zhixu in the field work. The study was jointly funded by the Provincial Nature Science Foundation of Jiangsu of China (BK2012050), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41325001, 41271355), the Key Program of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS2012135003), and the Environmental Protection Agency of Chun’an County, Zhejiang, in China.

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  1. Yunlin Zhang

    Present address: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taihu Lake Laboratory Ecosystem Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Xiaohan Liu, Yunlin Zhang, Kun Shi, Guangwei Zhu, Hai Xu & Mengyuan Zhu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaohan Liu

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  1. Xiaohan Liu
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Liu, X., Zhang, Y., Shi, K. et al. Absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter: implications for the monitoring of water quality in a large subtropical reservoir. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 14078–14090 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3319-4

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