spectral analysis

[Yakir Gagnon]

Hi all!
first timer here.
I need to find out to what degree (in the form of a P value or r^2) some spectra are similar to each other or different. here is the problem:

1. I have 10 groups; 10 taxonomic different groups of zooplankton (small marine animals).
2. each group has between 4 and 11 replicates (I measured 4-11 individuals from each specie).
3. each replicate is a spectrum; for each replicate the spectrum is composed of a series of 600 values. 600 light intensity values corresponding to the 600 wavelengths they were measured at. the wavelength spans from 400 to 700 nm.
4. I want to know to what degree are these spectra similar to each other within the groups, and between the groups.

From eyeballing them I can say that they are pretty similar within the groups in some groups and not so similar in other groups. I can also say that they look rather different from each other between the groups. but I need to know how significant it really is.
what is the statistically correct thing to do?
thanks in advance!


--
Yakir L. Gagnon, PhD student
The Vision Group
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