Theoretical and experimental approaches to improve the accuracy of particulate absorption coefficients derived from the quantitative filter technique

摘要

The quantitative filter technique (QFT), whereby particles are concentrated onto glass-fiber filters and analyzed in a spectrophotometer, is used extensively to estimate the absorption coefficients of aquatic particles. A number of empirically derived correction factors (β) have been developed to account for the amplified optical path length associated with the highly scattering glass-fiber filter. Published results are inconsistent, and β remains the largest source of uncertainty in estimated absorption coefficients.