MODELING THE INFLUENCE OF TURBULENCE ON PHYTOPLANKTON PHOTOSYNTHESIS

One of the most important effects of turbulence on phytoplankton production is related to the intermixing between the shaded deep layers rich in biogenous substances and the illuminated surficial layers. As a result of this the cells have the possibility of alternately accumulating biogenous substances and obtaining solar energy. The full description of the process requires the use of kinetic equations describing the distribution functions of phytoplankton cells with respect to the resources obtained. On the basis of the theory of dispersion of non-conservative particles the interrelations providing estimates of the effect of turbulence on phytoplankton production are obtained. The procedure for a direct solution of the complex kinetic equation describing a phytoplankton population with the help of this theory is replaced by the consecutive solution of more simple equations. In this case the methods for solution of stochastic equations are used.