Using synthetic spectra to gauge the observational consequences of altering the abundance of individual elements, I determine the observability of new Lick IDS style indices designed to target individual elements. Then using these new indices and sin
gle stellar population models, I investigate a new method to determine Balmer series emission in a Sloan Digital Sky Surveys grand average of quiescent galaxies. I also investigate the effects of an old metal-poor stellar population on the near ultra violet spectrum through the use of these new indices and find that the presence of a small old metal-poor population accounts for discrepancies observed between index trends in the near UV and optical spectral regimes. Index trends for 74 indices and three data sets are presented and discussed. Finally, I determine the near nuclear line-strength gradients of 18 red sequence elliptical Virgo cluster galaxies for 74 indices.
For purposes of stellar population analysis, emission corrections for Balmer series indices on the Lick index system in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) stacked quiescent galaxy spectra are derived, along with corrections for continuum shape and gross
stellar content, as a function of the Mg $b$ Lick index strength. These corrections are obtained by comparing the observed Lick index measurements of the SDSS with new observed measurements of 13 Virgo Cluster galaxies, and checked with model grids. From the H$alpha$ Mg $b$ diagram a linear correction for the observed measurement is constructed using best fit trend lines. Corrections for H$beta$, H$gamma$ and H$delta$ are constructed using stellar population models to predict continuum shape changes as a function of Mg $b$ and Balmer series emission intensities typical of H{sc II} regions. The corrections themselves are fairly secure, but the interpretation for H$delta$ and H$gamma$ indices is complicated by the fact that the H$delta$ and H$gamma$ indices are sensitive to elemental abundances other than hydrogen.
