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Simple calculation of daily photosynthesis by means of five photosynthesis‐light equations
Author(s) -
McBride Graham B.
Publication year - 1992
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.1992.37.8.1796
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , dimensionless quantity , water column , range (aeronautics) , photosynthetically active radiation , biological system , benthic zone , environmental science , mathematics , physics , chemistry , materials science , mechanics , ecology , biology , composite material , biochemistry
The performance of five well‐known photosynthesis‐light equations is compared by presenting a wide range of solutions in the form of dimensionless nomographs for the case where photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) reduces exponentially down the water column and is distributed sinusoidally through the photoperiod. These provide a simple means of calculating daily photosynthesis at any depth (e.g. at a benthic layer), or through a water column, avoiding the need to perform complex integrations. An examination is made of the accuracy of common approximate methods for calculating daily photosynthesis, assuming constant PAR. For optically deep water a modification is proposed to Talling’s planimetric solution, to enable daily photosynthesis to be calculated more accurately, yet simply, over the whole range of possible PAR values. The errors induced by approximating the daily PAR distribution as a half‐sinusoid are also reported.