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Abstract
Accurate estimation of phytoplankton primary production is an essential component of aquatic biogeochemistry because of its central importance in the cycling of inorganic nutrients, the production of 50% of the world’s oxygen, the uptake of CO2, and the production of particulate organic matter. This thesis is both an attempt to empirically test that assumption using field measurements and, having done so, to use the sensors to accurately track the metabolic dynamics of the lower Columbia and its tributary, the Willamette River, to estimate the total daily export to the estuary of particulate organic carbon throughout an entire year.