Predicting Dissolved Black Carbon Concentration From Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter Along the Land‐Ocean Continuum
Abstract Dissolved black carbon (DBC) plays a key role in global carbon cycle and pollutant transport. However, the time‐consuming and labor‐intensive chemical analysis limits its spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we developed models to predict DBC from chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) measurements across the land‐to‐ocean continuum. We found that the mean ratio of DBC to light absorbance at 254 nm ( a 254 ) changed <20% among different environments. However, a single‐wavelength model is inadequate for precise prediction due to microbial production of CDOM. Incorporating longer wavelengths using multiple linear regression improves model performance. Random Forest Regression using the full spectral range performed even better at all environments, including the open ocean, achieving a root mean square logarithmic error of <0.15, median symmetric accuracy of <10%, and R 2 of >0.85. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using CDOM to predict DBC concentrations and highlights the potential for in situ monitoring and remote sensing applications.
Authors
- Ding He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9620-6115)
- Shuh‐Ji Kao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5054-9099)
- Lifeng Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2043-5912)
- Weifeng Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9339-1746)
- Xiaoqian Zhan
- Jutta Niggemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1237-9233)
- Thorsten Dittmar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-0107)
- Shuwen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9511-2555)
- Julian Merder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5958-7016)
- Hongyan Bao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9632-1487)
- Weiqiang Zhao
- Yuanbi Yi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8420-8025)
- Penghui Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7960-1025)
- Ziming Fang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6163-2886)
- Keyuan Li
Institutions
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Xiamen University (CN)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Hainan University (CN)
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (DE)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119009
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.79
Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- National Key Research and Development Program of China