Biogeosciences
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Articles | Volume 23, issue 8
Articles | Volume 23, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2641-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2641-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 23, issue 8
Research article
 | 
20 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 20 Apr 2026

Potential of optical and ecological proxies to quantify phytoplankton carbon in oligotrophic waters

David Antoine, Chandanlal Parida, and Camille Grimaldi

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Antoine, D., Siegel, D. A., Kostadinov, T., Maritorena, S., Nelson, N. B., Gentili, B., Vellucci, V., and Guillocheau, N.: Variability in optical particle backscattering in contrasting bio-optical oceanic regimes, Limnol. Oceanogr., 56, 955–973, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2011.56.3.0955, 2011. 
Araujo, M., Noriega, C., Hounsou-Gbo, G. A., Veleda, D., Araujo, J., Bruto, L., Feitosa, F., Flores-Montes, M., Lefèvre, N., and Melo, P.: A synoptic assessment of the amazon river-ocean continuum during boreal autumn: from physics to plankton communities and carbon flux, Front. Microbiol., 8, 1358, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01358, 2017. 
Behrenfeld, M. J. and Boss, E.: Beam attenuation and chlorophyll concentration as alternative optical indices of phytoplankton biomass, J. Marine Res., 64, 431–451, 2006. 
Behrenfeld, M. J., Boss, E., Siegel, D. A., and Shea, D. M.: Carbon-based ocean productivity and phytoplankton physiology from space, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, 19, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GB002299, 2005. 
BIPM, I., IFCC, I., ISO, I., and IUPAP, O.: Evaluation of measurement data-guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement, JCGM 100: 2008 GUM 1995 with minor corrections, Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology, 98, 2008. 
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A dataset of phytoplankton cell counts, pigments, particulate organic carbon and optical properties enables comparison of three methods to estimate phytoplankton carbon (Cphyto) in oligotrophic waters, where uncertainties in phytoplankton productivity are still large. Two methods based on chlorophyll concentration and particulate backscattering, are scalable to global scale while cell counts reduce bias from non-algal material. This comparison clarifies uncertainties in optical Cphyto estimates.
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