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Irradiance Levels (irradiance + level)
Selected AbstractsDIEL VARIATIONS IN OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF IMANTONIA ROTUNDA (HAPTOPHYCEAE) AND THALASSIOSIRA PSEUDONANA (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT IRRADIANCE LEVELS,JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Sébastien Mas Diel variations of cellular optical properties were examined for cultures of the haptophyte Imantonia rotunda N. Reynolds and the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (Hust.) Hasle et Heimdal grown under a 14:10 light:dark (L:D) cycle and transferred from 100 ,mol photons · m,2 · s,1 to higher irradiances of 250 and 500 ,mol photons · m,2 · s,1. Cell volume and abundance, phytoplankton absorption coefficients, flow-cytometric light scattering and chl fluorescence, and pigment composition were measured every 2 h over a 24 h period. Results showed that cell division was more synchronous for I. rotunda than for T. pseudonana. Several variables exhibited diel variability with an amplitude >100%, notably mean cell volume for the haptophyte and photoprotective carotenoids for both species, while optical properties such as flow-cytometric scattering and chl a,specific phytoplankton absorption generally showed <50% diel variability. Increased irradiance induced changes in pigments (both species) and mean cell volume (for the diatom) and amplified diel variability for most variables. This increase in amplitude is larger for pigments (factor of 2 or more, notably for cellular photoprotective carotenoid content in I. rotunda and for photosynthetic pigments in T. pseudonana) than for optical properties (a factor of 1.5 for chl a,specific absorption, at 440 nm, in I. rotunda and a factor of 2 for the absorption cross-section and the chl a,specific scattering in T. pseudonana). Consequently, diel changes in optical properties and pigmentation associated with the L:D cycle and amplified by concurrent changes in irradiance likely contribute significantly to the variability in optical properties observed in biooptical field studies. [source] Time to ignition, heat release rate and fire endurance time of wood in cone calorimeter testFIRE AND MATERIALS, Issue 4 2001Toshiro HaradaArticle first published online: 15 MAR 200 The combustibility of wood specimens was tested by cone calorimeter. A total of nine wood species (four softwood and five hardwood) were used. The thicknesses of the specimens were 10, 20 and 40 mm. The heated surfaces were radial, tangential, and cross-sections of wood. The irradiance levels were 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 kWm,2. The effects of wood species, density, specimen thickness, heated surface (radial, tangential or cross-section), and irradiance level on time to ignition, mass loss rate, heat release rate and fire endurance time were studied. Simple formulae were proposed to forecast those indices and their validity was examined. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Experimental solar spectral irradiance until 2500,nm: results and influence on the PV conversion of different materialsPROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH & APPLICATIONS, Issue 4 2007J. J. Pérez-López Abstract In this work, results are presented concerning solar spectral irradiance measurements performed in Madrid in the wavelength range 250,2500,nm, that is, extending the spectral range far away from the wavelengths where PV semiconductors are active. These data were obtained considering a horizontal receiver surface during selected clear days covering the four seasons of the year. PV materials having different spectral responses (m-Si, a-Si, CIGS, CdTe) have been considered to calculate spectral factors (SF) taking as reference the standard solar spectrum AM1.5 defined in standard IEC 60904-3. From these SFs, the influence of natural solar spectral variations in PV conversion has been established. It is shown, for example, that PV technologies based on a-Si are highly favored, from the spectral point of view, in spring,summer compared to other technologies having broader spectral responses, which are more favored in autumn,winter. From the experimental measured solar spectra, we have calculated Weighed Solar Spectra (WSS) corresponding to the four seasons of the year and also to the whole year. The WSS represents, for a certain period of time, the solar spectrum weighed over the irradiance level. SFs have been calculated for different WSSs showing spectral gains for the four PV materials during almost the full year. Otherwise, it is also shown in this work how the near-IR part of the solar spectrum affects the evaluation of the solar resource as a whole when reference solar cells made of different PV materials are used. For typical m-Si, a-Si, CIGS, and CdTe solar cells, the ratio of Isc over global irradiance is not constant along a given day showing variations that depend on the season and on the PV material considered. © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] FLUORESCENCE-BASED MAXIMAL QUANTUM YIELD FOR PSII AS A DIAGNOSTIC OF NUTRIENT STRESSJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Jean-Paul Parkhill In biological oceanography, it has been widely accepted that the maximum quantum yield of photosynthesis is influenced by nutrient stress. A closely related parameter, the maximum quantum yield for stable charge separation of PSII, (,PSII)m, can be estimated by measuring the increase in fluorescence yield from dark-adapted minimal fluorescence (Fo) to maximal fluorescence (Fm) associated with the closing of photosynthetic reaction centers with saturating light or with a photosynthetic inhibitor such as 3,-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,,1,-dimethyl urea (DCMU). The ratio Fv/Fm (= (Fm, Fo)/Fm) is thus used as a diagnostic of nutrient stress. Published results indicate that Fv/Fm is depressed for nutrient-stressed phytoplankton, both during nutrient starvation (unbalanced growth) and acclimated nutrient limitation (steady-state or balanced growth). In contrast to published results, fluorescence measurements from our laboratory indicate that Fv/Fm is high and insensitive to nutrient limitation for cultures in steady state under a wide range of relative growth rates and irradiance levels. This discrepancy between results could be attributed to differences in measurement systems or to differences in growth conditions. To resolve the uncertainty about Fv/Fm as a diagnostic of nutrient stress, we grew the neritic diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (Hustedt) Hasle et Heimdal under nutrient-replete and nutrient-stressed conditions, using replicate semicontinuous, batch, and continuous cultures. Fv/Fm was determined using a conventional fluorometer and DCMU and with a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer. Reduction of excitation irradiance in the conventional fluorometer eliminated overestimation of Fo in the DCMU methodology for cultures grown at lower light levels, and for a large range of growth conditions there was a strong correlation between the measurements of Fv/Fm with DCMU and PAM (r2 = 0.77, n = 460). Consistent with the literature, nutrient-replete cultures showed consistently high Fv/Fm (,0.65), independent of growth irradiance. Under nutrient-starved (batch culture and perturbed steady state) conditions, Fv/Fm was significantly correlated to time without the limiting nutrient and to nutrient-limited growth rate before starvation. In contrast to published results, our continuous culture experiments showed that Fv/Fm was not a good measure of nutrient limitation under balanced growth conditions and remained constant (,0.65) and independent of nutrient-limited growth rate under different irradiance levels. Because variable fluorescence can only be used as a diagnostic for nutrient-starved unbalanced growth conditions, a robust measure of nutrient stressed oceanic waters is still required. [source] Rates of electron transport in the thylakoid membranes of isolated, illuminated chloroplasts are enhanced in the presence of ammonium chlorideBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 6 2003Rob L. Dean Abstract The rate of flow of electrons from water to an artificial electron acceptor, dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP), through photosystem II in the thylakoid membranes of isolated chloroplasts is greatly enhanced in the presence of 10 mM ammonium chloride. Rate enhancement depends on irradiance levels. Uncoupling reagents like ammonium chloride prevent the formation of a proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane and consequently remove a constraint on the rate of electron transport. The mode of action of ammonium chloride is explained. Evidence obtained using an oxygen electrode that DCPIP itself also partially uncouples the system is presented as background information for instructors. Suggestions on how this reaction may be used in laboratory classes for students from high school to the senior undergraduate level are included. [source] | ||||||||||