Southridge HS Grades 11 and 12

Ms. EverettBy: Pele LaFrance

AndMelissa Garcia

The Question and HypothesisHow did the area of high (over 4.4 Mg/L)

dissolved organic matter (pollution) affect the area of high chlorophyll concentration of the world during the year 2010?

We suspect that with an increase in dissolved organic matter, the higher the chlorophyll concentration will be, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, because too much chlorophyll leads to dead zones in plant life.

The VariablesWe are measuring the months January

through December of the year 2010.Our dependent variables are the area of high

(above .6 to 30 mg/L) chlorophyll concentration and area of high (4.4 mg/L and above) dissolved organic matter.

BackgroundIncreasing algae growth can cause a decrease

water clarity, noxious odors, oxygen depletion and kills the fish

Algae is highest in the Spring and Summer and lowest in the Fall and Winter.

Marine dissolved organic matter is complex mixture of molecules of diverse origins found in sea water from through out the world ocean.

Dissolved organic matter is important for the carbon cycle and food webs

Data Analysis Steps for Chlorophyll ConcentrationWe first modified the image by using RGB

color and RGB stack.Next we set the scale to 1938.89 km per

31.898 pixels.Our third step was to set the threshold to

include pixel values between 11 and 130. That included data values between 0.6 and 30 mg/L.

Our fourth step was to set our measurements to our area and limit to threshold to later measure the area.

Data Analysis Steps for Dissolved Organic MatterWe first modified the image by using RGB

color and RGB stack.Next we set the scale to 1938.89 km per

31.898 pixels.Our third step was to set the threshold to

include pixel values between 35 and 139. That included data values between 4.4 mg/L and above.

Our fourth step was to set our measurements to our area and limit to threshold to later measure the area.

Table ResultsDate (Month)

Area of High Chlorophyll Concentration (km2)

Area of High Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (km2)

January 776703982.009 14491821.785 February 898145147.185 22057371.873 March 763369801.926 28227524.474 April 780498441.123 28342060.241 May 775591876.660 17036271.643 June 794715655.021 17302290.198 July 838845177.576 21680512.253 August 821775653.614 32166076.973 September 878470858.203 29816246.402 October 853616596.797 15739431.186 November 958922997.657 9340207.051 December 881851510.676 7858631.487

Graph Results

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hyll C

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m

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Are

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FindingsIt would seem that there is no correlation

between the colored dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll concentration. This is somewhat unexpected because the dissolved organic matter, pollution, usually causes a spike in chlorophyll. Which is then a problem because that leads to dead zones, however the times where there is the highest amount of dissolved organic matter, August the amount of chlorophyll is relatively unchanged compared to the months beside it.

ConclusionBased on the year 2010, our findings have led

us to the conclusion that there is no correlation between the amount of colored dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll concentration.

LimitationsWe only looked at one year.Our only resources were computers.Limited time for outside research.The scale couldn’t be completely perfect so

therefore our numbers have to be somewhat offThere was bound to be cloud cover obstructing

to view of the satellites at timesAlso we were working with a 2D image but we

have a 3D world so it must have been at least slightly distorted.

Implications for HumanityKeep pollution out of the ocean. While it may

not affect the chlorophyll concentration, according to our findings, it still affects the rest of life in the sea.

Implications for EcosystemsWhile our data was not an example of this we know

from our other knowledge that Dissolved Organic Matter and Chlorophyll Concentration, so we as humans must be careful or the ecosystems will be hurt.

Even though data may not show a direct correlation between the two, like ours there still is one.

If there is too much dissolved organic matter (pollution) that will spike the chlorophyll concentration, causing Eutrophication, leading to dead zones, which negatively impact the ecosystem greatly.

CitationsCarlson, Craig A., Hansel, Dennis A., “Marine

Dissolved Organic Matter and the Carbon Cycle” http://yyy.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/biogeochem/Hansell%20pdfs/33%20Hansell.pdf , Copyright 2001

Coasts and Oceans, “What Is The Indicator and Why Is It Important?” http://www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems/2002report/coastal/chlorophyll.shtml , Copyright 2002

Giovanni, http://gdata1.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/G3/gui.cgi?instance_id=ocean _month

More Sources-www.classzone.com--http://www.eoearth.org