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LabSTAF - Measure Phytoplankton Primary Productivity
Single Turnover Active Fluorometry (STAF) for measuring phytoplankton primary productivity (PhytoPP) LabSTAF Is the next generation of STAF-based primary productivity instrumentation. The system incorporates unparalleled sensitivity with a wide dynamic range, allowing for measurements in all environments: from reservoirs and lakes to open ocean.
Single Turnover Active Fluorometry (STAF) is an established method for the quantitative assessment of phytoplankton photosynthesis. Importantly, it allows for evaluation of primary productivity by phytoplankton (PhytoPP), providing valuable data to further our understanding of the global carbon cycle.
LabSTAF is the first of a new generation of research-grade active fluorometers developed within the NERC-funded OCEANIDS programme. Additional, ongoing funding for STAF development is provided through the EU-funded Technologies for Ocean Sensing (TechOceanS) programme.
The included Windows-based RunSTAF software provides for a wide range of experimental setups, manual control or highly automated operation, real time data analysis and easy access to primary data in csv format.
..to system control
The standard LabSTAF has a high dynamic range, allowing for measurements from extreme oligotrophic to mesotrophic and even some eutrophic conditions. The High Biomass (HB) version of LabSTAF extends the high end of the dynamic range by a factor of ten. This opens the application of STAF to, for example, the continuous assessment of biomass accumulation within algal growth ponds.
Key features
- The use of high performance, hard-coated optical filters removes the need for filtrate blank correction in most cases
- The provision of two fluorescence detection wavebands allows for quantification of and correction for the package effect through the Dual Waveband Measurement (DWM)
- The inclusion of seven fluorescence excitation LED wavebands allows for rapid and highly automated spectral correction by generating the Photochemical Excitation Profile (PEP)
- An integrated actinic light source providing 10 to > 1600 µmol photons m-2 s-1. The light source is driven by DC to avoid the potential for measurement artefacts associated with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
- The sample chamber block includes a circulating water jacket that avoids intersection with all optical paths to allow for the use of underway water for sample temperature control
- FLC automation includes dynamic optimisation of the FLC protocol using a new method for continuous assessment of the Ek parameter
- Real time data analysis provides 39 fluorescence parameters, in addition to the standard FLC parameters, and including options for the correction of baseline fluorescence
- A wide range of export functions to provide access to primary data. They can be used to extract data from a single file or across multiple files
Comparison with FastOcean and Act2 systems
LabSTAF represents a significant update to Chelsea’s well-established combination of FastOcean Fast Repetition Rate fluorometer (FRRf) and Act2 laboratory system for running FLCs. One important change has been a switch from the 1 µs FRRf ‘flashlets’ on a 2 µs pitch incorporated within FastOcean to the solid excitation pulse used within LabSTAF. This contributes to a more than ten-fold improvement in sensitivity and a halving of the standard Single Turnover (ST) pulse, from 200 µs to 100 µs. Decreasing the length of the ST pulse decreases the rate of double hits from around 27% to around 12%, which makes it possible to apply ST pulses at a higher frequency.
- Direct measurement of phytoplankton photosynthetic rates, per unit volume per unit time, allowing for the assessment of PhytoPP
- Autonomous acquisition of STAF data at high resolution, with the potential to contribute to the verification of satellite-based models of PhytoPP
- Rapid photophysiological screening of phytoplankton samples using scintillation vials
- Tracking the development of algal blooms and changes in community structure
- Analysis of diurnal cycles in phytoplankton photosynthesis and cell metabolism
- Autonomous continuous underway measurements on research vessels and ships of convenience
- Real time assessment of the impact of environmental change on phytoplankton photosynthesis, including ambient light, temperature, nutrient enrichment and pollution events