The recent development of moorable underwater spectral radiometers provides the possibility of long-term observations of bio-optical properties of the ocean at a sampling frequency of a few seconds to minutes. However, interpretation of the observed attenuation coefficients in terms of variations in the inherent optical properties (IOPs) or the biological properties is not straightforward for several reasons. First, even in a homogeneous ocean the attenuation coefficient K_d will be a function of depth, illumination at the surface, and the surface roughness, as well as the IOPs of the ocean. Next, a moored instrument cannot measure K_d as a function of depth but instead measures the mean K_d between discrete depths. Finally, K_d will depend on the (unknown) vertical structure of the optical properties of the water column. The dependence of the mean K_d on these factors is studied with Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer in the ocean-atmosphere system. Preliminary results from this study are presented.

Date Published: 31 December 1992
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 1750, Ocean Optics XI, (31 December 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.140663

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1750:
Ocean Optics XI
Gary D. Gilbert, Editor(s)