Abstract
The penetration of sunlight into the water column plays a critical role in the aquatic ecosystem. This study investi- gates light attenuation through the water column of the Danshuei River estuary and explores the models for quantifying it. The mea- surement of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) indicates that the conventional exponential attenuation of light with depth is a very good model. A light attenuation coefficient may be derived from the PAR measurements at each location. The simpler mea- surements of Secchi depth (SD) provide an approximate estimate of the attenuation coefficients through an inverse linear relationship. The results also reveal that the amount and kinds of materials, which are either dissolved or suspended in the water, control light attenuation through the water column. However, the linear regres- sion with such a model results in very poor correlation, and a rela- tively large constant term for the Danshuei River estuary. The regression with salinity yields a good correlation, indicating that the fraction of sea water might be a good parameter for estimating light attenuation coefficient for practical application in the Dan- shuei River estuary. (KEY TERMS: light attenuation; Danshuei River estuary; Secchi depth; salinity; suspended sediment.)
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