Rapid measurement of suspended C, N, and P from Precambrian Shield Lakes using Near-infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Rapid (<2 min), simultaneous, non-chemical, non-destructive, cost-efficient measurement of the C, N, and P concentrations in suspended, particulate matter in water from lakes of varying trophic status, pH, and extent of metal contamination was attempted by the use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). This technique, widely used in the agricultural, food, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and textile industries, is being explored for its applications to aquatic and environmental sciences. Suspended matter from lake water (10–100 ml) was collected on 2.5 cm dia. G/FC glass fibre filters so that filters bore 10.5–109.2 μg C, 0.8–18.9 μg N, and 0.09-2.67 μg P per filter. Filters were oven-dried and scanned with an NIRSystems 6500 near-infrared spectrophotometer. The spectral data were treated by multiple linear regression analysis to develop mathematical relationships (calibrations) between absorbance at particular wavelengths and amounts of C, N, and P determined by conventional chemical analytical methods. These calibrations were used to predict C, N, and P from an independent set of spectra. Agreement between these NIRS-predicted values and their chemical values was generally greater than 0.9 for C, N, and P (r2 from 0.88 to 0.97).