Fluorescence spectroscopy is ideally suited to the analysis of oil spills as it allows chemical information of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to be acquired quickly, sensitively and selectively. Unlike infrared spectra which have detailed peak information, many fluorescence spectra have only a few broad peaks. Nine different samples of crude and diesel oils were used for testing point-to-point matching across the spectral range. Five of them were discriminated by point-to-point matching algorithms and the other four very similar samples were not. Principal components analysis (PCA) did successfully discriminate among all similar samples. PCA could also distinguish the extent of weathering of different samples, an important factor in matching environmental spills.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Fluorescence spectroscopy; Oil spills; Environmental analysis; Matching spectra; Similarity index; Principal component analysis
Research Division:	Chemical Sciences
Research Group:	Analytical chemistry
Research Field:	Separation science
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the chemical sciences
UTAS Author:	Li, J (Dr Jianfeng Li)
ID Code:	54667
Year Published:	2004
Web of Science® Times Cited:	47
Deposited By:	Austn Centre for Research in Separation Science
Deposited On:	2009-02-26
Last Modified:	2009-02-26
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