| Sumario: | The potential use of multivariate chemometric methods for the investigation of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) sources in surface river waters monitored by UV absorbance and excitation-emission fluorescence spectroscopy is shown. The Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) method is applied to the analysis of the excitation-emission multidimensional data matrices acquired at ten different river sampling sites along the basin of the Llobregat river (located at the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula), from its origin to its mouth, during three different monitoring campaigns. The results obtained by MCR-ALS provided information about the compositional changes of the different DOM sources (i.e. humic-, fulvic- or protein-like sources) present in the investigated river samples, about their site distribution along the river basin and about their changes in three different monitoring campaigns. Eight different MCR-ALS components were resolved describing several types of DOM, with different excitation and emission spectra and with distinct distribution profiles along the river sampling sites. A comparative study of each single sampling site describing the changes in their DOM composition during the three monitoring campaigns was also performed.
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