Fluorometer correction factors for cyanobacteria published in Water Research

Nuisance and Harmful Algae Science-Practice Partnership researchers Florence Choo, Arash Zamyadi, Richard Stuetz and Rita Henderson, together with collaborators from SA Water, have published a paper titled “Enhanced real-time cyanobacterial fluorescence monitoring through chlorophyll-a interference compensation corrections” in the prestigious IWA journal Water Research. This publication follows on from the authors’ previous work on the use of fluorometers for real-time monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms.

The current study developed fluorometer correction factors to separate out interference by green algae from cyanobacterial fluorescence signals. The identification and monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms is of critical importance because these microorganisms are responsible for the production of toxins that are harmful to human and animal health. The fluorometer measurement error was reduced by 21%-99%, depending on the algal community composition and fluorometer used. Field validation tests proved that the corrected fluorometers were highly effective monitoring tools at sites dominated by cyanobacterial blooms of a single species.