Our power point comparing the area of high dissolved organic matter with the area of high chlorophyll concentration.

1. Southridge HS
Grades 11 and 12
Ms. Everett
By: Pele LaFrance
And
Melissa Garcia

2. The Question and Hypothesis
 How 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.

3. The Variables
 We 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.

4. Background
 Increasing 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

5. Data Analysis Steps for Chlorophyll Concentration
 We 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.

6. Data Analysis Steps for Dissolved Organic Matter
 We 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.

7. Table Results
Date Area of High Chlorophyll Area of High Colored Dissolved
(Month) Concentration (km2) 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

8. Area of high
Graph Results
Area of High Chlorophyll Concentration (Km squared)

9. Findings
 It 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.

10. Conclusion
 Based 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.

11. Limitations
 We 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 off
 There was bound to be cloud cover obstructing to
view of the satellites at times
 Also we were working with a 2D image but we have a
3D world so it must have been at least slightly
distorted.

12. Implications for Humanity
 Keep 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.

13. Implications for Ecosystems
 While 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.

14. Citations
 Carlson, Craig A., Hansel, Dennis A., “Marine
Dissolved Organic Matter and the Carbon Cycle”
http://yyy.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/biogeochem/Hansell%
, Copyright 2001
 Coasts and Oceans, “What Is The Indicator and Why
Is It Important?”
http://www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems/2002report/coastal/c
, Copyright 2002
 Giovanni, http://gdata1.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/G3/
gui.cgi?instance_id=ocean _month

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