This is the appearance of the Phytoplankton tab of the Reservoir Coefficients dialog:
Phytoplankton is defined as the community of algae that is suspended or floating in the water column. Following is a description of the parameters associated with Phytoplankton. Refer to the main Reservoir Coefficients page for information on other categories of coefficients. To save the changes made when closing this dialog, click OK. To ignore changes, click Cancel.
The spreadsheet contains coefficients for each species of phytoplankton. All of these coefficients apply to the entire reservoir.
Nitrogen Half Saturation is the growth rate half-saturation constant for nitrogen for the algae. (0.01 – 0.03 mg/l)
Phosphorus Half Saturation is the growth rate half-saturation constant for phosphorus for the algae. (0.001 – 0.005 mg/l)
Silica Half Saturation is the growth rate half-saturation constant for silica for the algae. (0.0 – 0.10 mg/l, non-zero for diatoms)
Light Saturation is the saturating light intensity for the algae. (50 – 200 W / m2)
Lower Growth Temp is the temperature below which the algae can not grow. (0 – 15 degrees C)
Upper Growth Temp is the temperature above which the algae can not grow. (25 – 45 degrees C)
Optimum Growth Temp is the temperature at which the algae’s growth is maximized. The maximum growth rate decreases linearly from this temperature to the Lower and Upper Temperature Limits. (20 – 35 degrees C)
Growth, respiration, mortality, and settling rates are set in the Reservoir Reaction Coefficients dialog.
When the Apply Changes To Selected button is checked, changes made to the coefficients of the reservoir segment being edited will be made to all selected reservoir segments. When the Apply Changes To All button is checked, changes made to the coefficients of the reservoir segment being edited will be made to all reservoir segments.