CDOM Sources, Sinks, Processes

[lbeever]

On May 28 and 29, the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) conducted a workshop to discuss Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM).  We are located in southwest Florida and our waters are naturally highly colored.  CDOM is a major component of light attenuation before it reaches seagrasses, so it is of concern for us.  CDOM is important for estuarine productivity and can bind with iron and copper (two pollutants for which many of our freshwaters are impaired) and remove them from the water column.

Comments...
1. I would have liked to have shown a complex CDOM molecule under the photobleaching symbol advancing (->) to a simple molecule with the CO2 coming off.  The clips I tried were unreadable so I satisfied myself with a general description in the photobleaching legend.

2. On the final version, I will clip the file so it is square.  I do not know how to cut the excess crossection base off in Illustrator.  The PDF writes out properly.

3. This is my first effort accomplished in 8 hours.  This is my first use of Illustrator. 

I appreciate any suggestions,
Lisa

[AdrianJ]

Hi Lisa,

Great first effort!

I have done a quick cleanup for you of some extraneous layers in your diagram and clipped the diagram to a square. I also created an actual box around the diagram - you were simply using the box in Illustrator that defines the border of the page, and so this wouldn't show up when printing. To clip the diagram of the extra stuff you had, I drew a box around everything to be included and used the Object>Path>Divide Objects Below function - then simply went through with the direct selection tool (the white arrow) and deleted the points outside the box.

I also deleted a linked file was causing errors - we don't have access to it, so Illustrator couldn't load it - if you are trying to include a logo you really need to get a vector version so that you can add it properly to the diagram.

I will ask the rest of the IAN group to offer some more comments for you.

Regards,
Adrian

[cwicks]

Lisa,
Great job! Don't worry, the more diagrams you make, the faster you'll make them. Some edits:

1. Change legend font to be Sans Serift (like title)
2. Change thru to through in first column of legend
3. I know it's obvious, but you may want to add the changing color of water into the legend.
4. Under photobleaching, does it make CDOM more or less bioavailable? I wasn't sure.

Thanks,
Caroline

[lbeever]

Thank you Adrian and Caroline!

Here is the new version...

[jwoerner]

Wow! This diagram looks really great! There are two things I'd like to comment on.

1. It might be easier for people to understand that stormwater is entering the water if there was an arrow at the end of the blue rectangle.

2. The line around the Photobleaching arrow could be a little thinner. Right now it stands out more than the other arrows.

Again, this is great! We'd love to see how you use this diagram in your communication products.

[AdrianJ]

I'll add another 2 cents worth - it looks like something went a little wonky with the overall border between the version I posted and the revised version you posted, and also the left most tree is back outside the border again. I am assuming you did download the ai version I posted and edited that?

Adrian

[lbeever]

Hi Adrian!

I did download it and use your version.  I moved the tree back to its original spot because I like a little overlap on the boarder there.  I think that it is a little more 3-diminsional that way.

After the post, I added another process (UV is blocked by CDOM, protecting invertebrates like coral).  I don't know how to expand the bottom of the base cross-section without warping it, so I added back the superfluous layer at the bottom just so it would look right. I re-attached.

-Lisa

[lbeever]

After I posted, I read Joanna's post.  I made some tweaks.  I couldn't break the photobleaching symbol apart, so I made the symbol smaller so it didn't dominate so much, and I moved the arrow to the end of the pipe.

Regarding our communication program...

1. We will circulate the conceptual diagram among the workshop participants, to make sure that we got all the important issues.  In this way we can provide additional discourse among the participants.  We had a volunteer to establish a CDOM list-serve, so this may provide a good opportunity to show the list-serve as a tool.

2. We will place the diagram in our workshop report so that the information becomes more accessible.  The report wil be sent through our management conference of citizens, managers, and elected officials/top agency heads.  It will be used to better communicate the report to them.  The diagram will be placed on our website page for the CDOM workshop.

3. We are updating our Comprehehsive Conservation and Management Plan.  One of the new quantifiable objectives relates to communicating up-to-date science in understandable ways.  This diagram is a good first example (prepared the same week as the workshop).  We will place the diagram as such an example under our vision sections.

4. I've receive a request to allow the diagram to be used in others' presentations and I have approved of that use.  I may use it for public presentations in conjuction with a gif animation of monthly color levels.  For fun, I am attaching an animation I made of salinity that is a real crowd-pleaser.  I can do the same for color, once that part of a contract with the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center is complete. 

[AdrianJ]

Hey Lisa,

Your logo is stilled linked - you should open the logo AI file, draw a marquee box with the black pointer around the logo, copy it and then paste it into the diagram AI file - that way it will all be in one file. To expand the bottom of the base cross-section without warping it just grab the bottom left and bottom right points with the direct selection tool (the white arrow) - hold down shift so you can select both and then use your arrow keys to move those points down - does that make sense?

Adrian

[greywolfst1]

This thread might be dead, but I thought I would put my two cents in.
You should include phytoplankton as a source of CDOM.  In case II waters you see both external an internal sources of CDOM.  Otherwise excellent diagram!

[lbeever]

Thank you!  The link is not dead and the site makes it easy to check to see if there are any replies on topics I started. I will bear your comments in mind when I modify the diagram.