Impact of wet season river flood discharge on phytoplankton absorption properties in the southern Great Barrier Reef region coastal waters

Abstract

Light absorption due to particulate and dissolved material plays an important role in controlling the underwater light environment and the above water reflectance signature. Thorough understanding of absorption properties and their variability is important to estimate light propagation in the water column. However, knowledge of light absorption properties in flood impacted coastal waters is limited. To address this knowledge gap we investigated a bio-optical dataset collected during a flood (2008) in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region coastal waters. Results presented here show strong impact of river flood discharges on water column stratification, distribution of suspended substances and light absorption properties in the study area. Bio-optical analysis showed phytoplankton absorption efficiency to reduce in response to increased coloured dissolved organic matter presence in flood impacted coastal waters. Biogeophysical property ranges, relationships and parametrisation presented here will help model realistic underwater light environment and optical signature in flood impacted coastal waters.