The instrumentation enables a wide range of analyses for indicators associated with aromatic carbon in soil and water. The indicators can be correlated to the parent sources of organic matter through integrated statistical parallel factor analysis (PARAFACS) software.

• UV-Vis Absorbance Spectra provide intensities of aromatic carbon (A₂₅₄) and lignin-like carbon (A₃₅₀) that can be coupled with a total organic carbon (TOC) analysis to provide carbon concentrations via Specific UV-Absorbance (SUVA).
• A Fluorescence Index (FI) indicates the parent source of the DOM as terrestrial or aquatic in nature, providing valuable information on carbon degradation potential.
• The Biological Index (BIX) associates the freshness of protein pool to the degradation of DOM to determine biological activity.
• Humification Index (HIX) determines a value for the decomposition of DOM contributing to bioavailability and the degree of humification from high molecular weight carbon.

The LSU AgCenter’s collaborative network catalyzes agricultural solutions from innovative research and provides many avenues to incorporate fluorescent fingerprinting for parent source material characterization.

• Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs): Farm runoff can be analyzed for parent source materials to trace carbon reduction from the implementation of BMPs to validated sustainable agricultural practices.
• Aquaculture Water Assessment: Crawfish ponds provide valuable nutrients for the rotational rice crops, and fDOM measurements can estimate bioavailable carbon in both the water column and sediment pore water.
• Processors Wastewater Treatment: The biological index can determine the activeness of microbial communities and the effective decomposition of organic matter in a wastewater treatment system that drives energy and chemical costs in agricultural industries (alligator processors, chicken farms, dairy factories, etc.).
• Soil Health and Sequestration: The buildup of carbon from crop residues, controlled burns, and other forms of amendments can be determined using the humification index to identify areas of higher molecular weight carbons.
• Surface Water Irrigation Organic Matter Impact: Parent source organic materials can be characterized for irrigation water pumped from canals and bayous to determine the biodegradability of organic matter used for a given crop system or pond setting.

The multidisciplinary team of LSU AgCenter faculty will continue building an innovative framework for fDOM by coupling spectroscopy indicators with other data sets from diverse sources. This will lead to potential projects for a more comprehensive understanding of agricultural systems, including:

• Using PARAFACs Software to create agricultural reference components (terrestrial, aquatic, and protein) from various crop systems and agricultural processors' wastewater to compare with organic matter transformation and degradation.
• Correlating total organic carbon (TOC) and nutrient analysis like total organic nitrogen (TON) and phosphorus (TP), as a reference point for carbon decomposition in fertilized crop systems.
• Establishing concentrations of disinfection by-products (DBPs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) from HPLC analysis to determine treatment efficiency for organic matter from processors' wastewater effluent
• Monitoring Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) using algae cultures and spectroscopy to correlate the impact of dissolved organic matter on eutrophication.