Draft guidelines for sampling and determination of total nitrogen.

Abstract

Total nitrogen includes all organic and inorganic forms of nitrogen, dissolved as well as suspended or particulate. The results are an estimation of the total amount of nitrogen, not only the dissolved bioavailable fraction. 1.2 Purpose and aims Monitoring of nutrients in seawater is carried out to identify and quantify the amount of nutrients, which may cause eutrophication. The aim is to provide spatiotemporal information for detection of short-term status and long-term trends and to ensure that the data is comparable for the HELCOM core indicator ‘Dissolved inorganic nitrogen‘. The indicator description, including its monitoring requirements, is given in the HELCOM core indicator web site: http://helcom.fi/baltic-sea-trends/indicators/nitrogen-din. 2 Monitoring