E1 pigment data

The contour plots show chlorophyll-a data generated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) during 2009. The pigment data between 2002 - 2005 can be downloaded in its entirety. To use the complete dataset (2002 - 2010) please contact Victor Martinez (vmv-at-pml.ac.uk). HPLC involves using a light absorption measurement and the retention time in a column to separate and quantify the concentrations of different light absorbing molecules (pigments). Different groups of algae (phytoplankton) in samples of seawater from E1 can be identified because of their pigment combinations. These measurements are taken approximately every month by collecting seawater samples from 6 depths at station E1, bringing them back to the laboratory and analysing them on the HPLC machine. We then have measurements of the phytoplankton abundance as milligrams of Chlorophyll-a per cubic meter of seawater through the water column which we use to see how their abundance changes with time as shown in the example plot below. In the plot, the green and orange/red colours show where the concentrations are highest.