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The MiniFluo-UV is a new glider-compatible optical sensor for measurements of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural waters. The working principle, sensor design and challenges faced during the validation phase are reported. The first in situ application of the sensor during three glider deployments in the NW Mediterranean sea (spring, summer, and fall) are also presented. For these campaigns, the two channels of the sensor were adjusted to target Tryptophan-like (excitation/emission wavelengths λEx/λEm: 275/340 nm) and Phenanthrene-like (λEx/λEm: 255/360 nm) fluorescence. These were chosen because they represent fluorophores of interest commonly found in seawater. While Tryptophan (an amino-acid believed to be a by-product of biological activity) is naturally found in the ocean, Phenanthrene (a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) is mainly introduced in the environment by human activities. The addition of these variables to more common physical and biogeochemical glider measurements reveals new features of DOM dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea. For example, the temporal and spatial decoupling between Tryptophan-like and Chl-a fluorescence suggests that the former is not only a marker of phytoplankton activity, but could also give more subtle information on the microbial processes occurring. The identification of a Phenanthrene-like layer just below the pycnocline at all seasons also raises questions on the mechanisms driving its presence in the Mediterranean. Knowing that the role of ocean DOM on atmospheric carbon sequestration is becoming clearer, the high spatio-temporal resolution possible with this new sampling strategy may represents a key step toward our deep understanding of DOM dynamics and its role on the biological pump.

Above-water reflectance and surface chlorophyll a concentrations (Chl a) were measured in the Gulf of Lions, northwestern Mediterranean Sea in 2000 and 2001 in order to test Chl a inversion algorithms. Surface waters were separated in Case 2 waters in the Rhone River plume and proximal Region of Freshwater Influence (ROFI) stations, and Case 1 waters at all the other stations. Case 2 waters were characterized by R443/R555 < R443/ R510 < R490/ R555 < R490/ R510 < 1. In the first part, we compared the concurrent reflectance measurements made with a scanning polarization radiometer (SIMBAD) and a hyperspectral Ocean Optics radiometer. The comparison of the remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) values at SIMBAD wavelengths shows excellent agreement for Rrs values higher than 0.01 sr(-1). Between the two instruments, reflectance ratios, commonly used in Chl a algorithms, show differences smaller than 2% in the Case 2 waters, and smaller than 20% in the Case 1 waters. In the second part, concurrent measurements of Chl a and of hyperspectral reflectance from 6 cruises were used to analyze the statistical performance of global (OC2, OC4) and regional regression algorithms using mainly SeaWiFS bands. The algorithms were tested first over the entire domain, then separately over the Case 1 and Case 2 waters. Chl a algorithms using band ratios such as the one presented in Bricaud et al. ( 2002) are suitable for the Case 1 waters. However, taking into account the large dispersion of Chl a for very close reflectance ratios in the Case 2 waters, single band ratios are not suitable for deriving Chl a. The use of a 4-wavelength parameter such as X-c, defined by Tassan (1994), leads to better results in the plume and proximal Rhone ROFI. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.