The eastern lagoon of New Caledonia (NC, Southwest Pacific), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, hosts the world's second longest double-barrier coral reef. This lagoon receives river inputs, oceanic water arrivals, and erosion pressure fromultramafic rocks, enriched in nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co). The aimof this study was to characterize colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), aswell as to determine its main sources and its possible relationships (through the use of Pearson correlation coefficients, r) with biogeochemical parameters, plankton communities and trace metals in the NC eastern lagoon. Water sampleswere collected inMarch 2016 along a series of river/lagoon/open-ocean transects. The absorption coefficient at 350 nm (a350) revealed the influence of river inputs on the CDOMdistribution. The high values of spectral slope (S275–295, N0.03m−1) and the lowvalues of specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254, b4 L mg-C−1 m−1) highlighted the photodegradation of CDOM in surface waters. The application of parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) on excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) allowed the identification of four CDOM components: (1) one humic- and one tyrosine-like fluorophores. They had terrestrial origin, exported through rivers and undergoing photo- and bio-degradation in the lagoon. These two fluorophores were linked to manganese (Mn) in southern rivers (r = 0.46–0.50, n = 21, p b 0.05). (2) A tryptophan-like fluorophore, which exhibited higher levels offshore. It would be potentially released from the coral reef. (3) A second tyrosine-like (“tyrosine 2-like”) fluorophore. Linked to Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria (r= 0.39, n =47, p b 0.05), this fluorophore would have an oceanic origin and enter in the lagoon through its southern and northern extremities. It also displayed relationshipswith Ni and Co content (r=0.53–0.54, n=21, p b 0.05). This work underlines the diversity of CDOM sources in the NC eastern lagoon.

In the framework of the VAHINE project, we investigated the spectral characteristics and the variability of dissolved and particulate chromophoric materials throughout a 23-day mesocosm experiment conducted in the southwest Pacific at the mouth of the New Caledonian coral lagoon (22 • 29.073 S–166 • 26.905 E) from 13 January to 4 Febru-ary 2013. Samples were collected in a mesocosm fertilized with phosphate at depths of 1, 6 and 12 m and in the surrounding waters. Light absorption coefficients of chro-mophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) [a g (λ)] and particulate matter [a p (λ)] were determined using a point-source integrating-cavity absorption meter (PSICAM), while fluorescent DOM (FDOM) components were determined from excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The evolutions of a g (λ) and a p (λ) in the mesocosm were similar to those of total chlorophyll a concentration, Synechococcus spp. and picoeukary-ote abundances, bacterial production, particulate organic nitrogen and total organic carbon concentrations, with roughly a decrease from the beginning of the experiment to days 9– 10, and an increase from days 9–10 to the end of the experiment. In the surrounding waters, the same trend was observed but the increase was much less pronounced, emphasizing the effect of the phosphate fertilization on the mesocosm's plankton community. Correlations suggested that both Syne-chococcus cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria were strongly involved in the production of CDOM and absorption of particulate matter. The increase in phytoplankton biomass during the second part of the experiment led to a higher contribution of particulate material in the absorption budget at 442 nm. The three FDOM components identified (tryptophan-, tyrosine-and ultraviolet C (UVC) humic-like fluorophores) did not follow the evolution of CDOM and particulate matter, suggesting they were driven by different production/degradation processes. Finally, the results of this work support the idea there is indirect coupling between the dynamics of N 2 fixation and that of chromophoric material via the stimulation of Synechococcus bloom.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton biomass and water turbidity can provide crucial information about the function, health and vulnerability of lagoon ecosystems (coral reefs, sea grasses, etc.). A statistical algorithm is proposed to estimate chlorophyll-a concentration ([chl-a]) in optically complex waters of the New Caledonian lagoon from MODIS-derived " remote-sensing " reflectance (R rs). The algorithm is developed via supervised learning on match-ups gathered from 2002 to 2010. The best performance is obtained by combining two models, selected according to the ratio of R rs in spectral bands centered on 488 and 555 nm: a log-linear model for low [chl-a] (AFLC) and a support vector machine (SVM) model or a classic model (OC3) for high [chl-a]. The log-linear model is developed based on SVM regression analysis. This approach outperforms the classical OC3 approach, especially in shallow waters, with a root mean squared error 30% lower. The proposed algorithm enables more accurate assessments of [chl-a] and its variability in this typical oligo-to meso-trophic tropical lagoon, from shallow coastal waters and nearby reefs to deeper waters and in the open ocean.

The accurate determination of light absorption coefficients of particles in water, especially in very oligotrophic oceanic areas, is still a challenging task. Concentrating aquatic particles on a glass fiber filter and using the Quantitative Filter Technique (QFT) is a common practice. Its routine application is limited by the necessary use of high performance spectrophotometers, distinct problems induced by the strong scattering of the filters and artifacts induced by freezing and storing samples. Measurements of the sample inside a large integrating sphere reduce scattering effects and direct field measurements avoid artifacts due to sample preservation. A small, portable, Integrating Cavity Absorption Meter setup (QFT-ICAM) is presented, that allows rapid measurements of a sample filter. The measurement technique takes into account artifacts due to chlorophyll-a fluorescence. The QFT-ICAM is shown to be highly comparable to similar measurements in laboratory spectrophotometers, in terms of accuracy, precision, and path length amplification effects. No spectral artifacts were observed when compared to measurement of samples in suspension, whereas freezing and storing of sample filters induced small losses of water-soluble pigments (probably phycoerythrins). Remaining problems in determining the particulate absorption coefficient with the QFT-ICAM are strong sample-to-sample variations of the path length amplification, as well as fluorescence by pigments that is emitted in a different spectral region than that of chlorophyll-a.

Ocean color of tropical lagoons is dependent on bathymetry and bottom type, as well as input of coastal living and mineral particles and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM). The New Caledonia lagoon lies in the Southwestern Tropical Pacific around 21° 30’S and 166° 30’E, with a great marine biodiversity in UNESCO Heritage coral reefs, benthic sea grass, and benthic communities. They are largely connected to the open ocean in the southern and eastern parts, but only by narrow passes in the southwest part. The trophic state is linked to spatial variations in flushing times. High run offs due to rain carrying abundant chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and particle loads may greatly impact the functioning of ecosystems while rivers and sewage effluents may induce localized impacts. Two oceanographic cruises (CALIOPE 1 in 2011 and CALIOPE 2 in 2014) were carried out off the Eastern Coast of New Caledonia during a calm dry period and during high winds, respectively. Multi- and hyper-spectral marine reflectance was measured with a SIMBADA instrument and a TRIOS radiometer system, together with inherent optical properties (total and CDOM absorption coefficients with a PSICAM, in situ absorption and scattering with an AC9, backscattering with a Hydroscat-6). Fluorescence of CDOM (EEM/PARAFAC) was measured on collected 0.2 μm filtered samples. In 2014, Satlantic and FieldSpec hyper-spectral radiometers were available for in-water profiling of upwelling radiance and downwelling irradiance and above-water reflectance measurements, respectively. Inherent and apparent optical data from the two cruises are compared and used to estimate ocean color algorithms performance and evaluate a Linear Matrix Inversion method, providing tools for remote sensing on this highly under-sampled coastal region of New Caledonia.

We propose a statistical algorithm to assess chlorophyll-a concentration ([chl-a]) using remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) derived from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. This algorithm is a combination of two models: one for low [chl-a] (oligotrophic waters) and one for high [chl-a]. A satellite pixel is classified as low or high [chla] according to the Rrs ratio (488 and 555 nm channels). If a pixel is considered as a low [chl-a] pixel, a log-linear model is applied; otherwise, a more sophisticated model (Support Vector Machine) is applied. The log-linear model was developed thanks to supervised learning on Rrs and [chl-a] data from SeaBASS and more than 15 campaigns accomplished from 2002 to 2010 around New Caledonia. Several models to assess high [chl-a] were also tested with statistical methods. This novel approach outperforms the standard reflectance ratio approach. Compared with algorithms such as the current NASA OC3, Root Mean Square Error is 30% lower in New Caledonian waters.

In recent years great progress has been made in global mapping of phytoplankton from space. Two main trends have emerged, the recognition of phytoplankton functional types (PFT) based on reflectance normalized to chlorophyll-a concentration, and the recognition of phytoplankton size class (PSC) based on the relationship between cell size and chlorophyll-a concentration. However, PFTs and PSCs are not decorrelated, and one approach can complement the other in a recognition task. In this paper, we explore the recognition of several dominant PFTs by combining reflectance anomalies, chlorophyll-a concentration and other environmental parameters, such as sea surface temperature and wind speed. Remote sensing pixels are labeled thanks to coincident in-situ pigment data from GeP&CO, NOMAD and MAREDAT datasets, covering various oceanographic environments. The recognition is made with a supervised Support Vector Machine classifier trained on the labeled pixels. This algorithm enables a non-linear separation of the classes in the input space and is especially adapted for small training datasets as available here. Moreover, it provides a class probability estimate, allowing one to enhance the robustness of the classification results through the choice of a minimum probability threshold. A greedy feature selection associated to a 10-fold cross-validation procedure is applied to select the most discriminative input features and evaluate the classification performance. The best classifiers are finally applied on daily remote sensing datasets (SeaWIFS, MODISA) and the resulting dominant PFT maps are compared with other studies. Several conclusions are drawn: (1) the feature selection highlights the weight of temperature, chlorophyll-a and wind speed variables in phytoplankton recognition; (2) the classifiers show good results and dominant PFT maps in agreement with phytoplankton distribution knowledge; (3) classification on MODISA data seems to perform better than on SeaWIFS data, (4) the probability threshold screens correctly the areas of smallest confidence such as the interclass regions.