Stefanie Penzel, Thomas Mayer, Mathias Rudolph

• This article reviews a method for detecting the algae Prymnesium parvum, whose toxic blooms can cause fish kills. Conventional methods such as epifluorescence microscopy or PCR are effective but can usually only conducted in the laboratory, which is time consuming and subject to uncertainty. The study presented proposes a spectroscopic measurement method and its mathematical description that can be used to determine the presence and concentration of algae. The method is also applicable in situ.