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Discrimination of phytoplankton via light‐scattering properties
Author(s) -
Wyatt Philip J.,
Jackson Christian
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1989.34.1.0096
Subject(s) - scattering , collimated light , optics , light scattering , photometer , detector , multiangle light scattering , forward scatter , physics , signal (programming language) , volume (thermodynamics) , remote sensing , laser , geology , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
Measurements of multiangle light scattering were made on individual phytoplankter cells in vitro by means of a commercial light#x2010;scattering photometer and in situ with a new instrument capable of measurements in an unconfined environment. Both instruments contain collimated detectors that measure light scattered from a small, defined#x2010;volume element of a detector#x2010;circumscribed, plane#x2010;polarized laser beam. As a single phytoplankter enters this volume, a scattering signal detected at a selected angle triggers repeated electronic scans of the particle as it moves through the volume. Data collected at up to 16 distinct angles are recorded 100 times during a period of a few hundred milliseconds. A subsequent analysis of data from 1,265 individual phytoplankters covering 12 distinct species confirms (for this group) the hypothesis that different species of phytoplankton produce distinctive scattering signals.